


How not to propose - Agreste edition

by Totally_lucky



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Marriage Proposal, except Gabriel but that is a different story, he is bad at this, nobody is helping either
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-06-02 11:36:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6564625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Totally_lucky/pseuds/Totally_lucky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wants to marry her but can't find a way. She wants him to propose but starts to think he doesn't want to. Everyone wants them to just get it over with already and stop suffering!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The ring

**Author's Note:**

> This can be considered as a sequel to "To heal a Broken Heart" or be read as a completely different story. You choose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently on hiatus. After that would be reworked.

“The moment felt just right and everything was perfect so the handsome prince stood on one knee and asked his beautiful princess to marry him. The princess loved the prince very much so she said yes. Very soon they married and lived happily ever after. The end.”

Little boy yawned sleepily rubbing his eyes in his little bed as the woman gently ruffled his disheveled blond hair.

“And one day, my sweet, little Adrien, you’ll grow up be the handsomest prince of them all and you will find your own beautiful princess who will love you very much.”

He turned around in his sheets to better face his lovely mama and smiled softly.

“And we’ll have our own perfect moment, mama?”

“Yes, of course, you will, honey, but for now, how about a perfect nap for my little prince?”

She leaned down and softly kissed Adrien’s little forehead before leaving the room. Soon his sparkling, emerald eyes slowly closed but a small, cute smile still lingered for a while. Just before the boy dozed off, he breathed out:

“My beautiful princess will only have the perfect moments. I promise.”  
__________________________________________

“Adrien! You have to be kidding me! That was the third custom jeweler we visited. Do you even know what you want?”

“Of course, I do, Plagg. An engagement ring.”

Adrien sighed. To say that he was disappointed is to say nothing. Yes, he knew what he wanted but somehow no one else seemed to understand him. He had this image in his head of a perfect engagement ring for his princess – the only ring he wanted to propose with, absolutely no compromise, because his future wife deserved only the best. The problem was – he couldn’t find it. In the last year Adrien visited every single jewelry store in Paris twice, some of them three times, before he finally gave up to find it pre-made. About a month ago he moved on to custom jewelers and really hoped that one of them could capture the image from his description and would be able to recreate it in reality. So far no one could and Adrien didn’t understand why. 

“You know, with your pace, kid, Marinette will sooner marry someone else than you’ll find the thing that doesn’t exist” – kwami’s irritated voice brought him out of his thoughts, annoying his tired mind.

“It exists, Plagg. I know it does. I remember seeing it, I just don’t remember where and when. And Marinette loves me. She won’t marry someone else, Plagg. Why would she?”

A little black blot turned around under his jacket to hide his face.

“Don’t know… Just saying…”

Adrien tensed up, fear rising in his guts. He was clearly realizing that he did take an awful long to seal the deal. They were together for the last six years and he didn’t even count a couple of years before that when they didn’t date but were still close as Ladybug and Chat Noir. As of now most of their friends were already married; Nino, who himself tied the knot last year, was constantly bothering him about it, hinting that Marinette would not be against walking down the aisle with a certain blond model in a near future. For the love of everything there is, Adrien himself wanted to marry her, wanted it badly… but he couldn’t give her anything less than perfect. He couldn’t propose with just any ring. It had to be that one he knew was destined for her, the one, image of which he had in his head since… well, he didn’t even remember since when. Ever since he could remember himself. And right now he was on his quest to find it.

The blond lowered his face and whispered, trying to avoid the crowd’s attention.

“Is there anything I am not aware of, Plagg?”

The kwami kept silent, still facing the other way, strangely refusing to talk, making Adrien worried. It’s not that he didn’t want to spill everything out. He just couldn’t. Blame the magic or the kwami code of conduct if you want but Plagg had the limits of what he could say and what he couldn’t. He couldn’t discuss other miraculous welders private issues with his owner so he couldn’t say that he saw Marinette’s “Dream wedding” box in her closet full of ideas and crafts she was gathering for the last four years, he couldn’t say that the girl already had her wedding dress designed and he definitely couldn’t tell him that Tikki regularly confined in him about Marinette’s doubts and worries, that she started to think that Adrien didn’t love her enough to marry, that she probably wasn’t good enough for him, that, even though she loves him very much, she, probably, should set him free so he could find and be happy with someone he would love enough to commit to.

“Plagg…”

A sound of his cellphone’s ringtone broke their one-sided conversation to much of Plagg’s relieve. On the other side was Natalie, asking Adrien to come for a lunch with Mr. Agreste in 30 minutes. Adrien sighed. His relationship with his father wasn’t the best but it existed nevertheless and if anything was improving little by little. Invitations like this, other than work related, were very rare and not always pleasant but Adrien accepted every one of them. At most those lunches were spent in a polite small talk and a slight inquiring about the work and school. Nothing too personal was ever spoken of and one subject was always avoided – a subject of a certain Marinette Dupain-Cheng. In spite of that, Adrien still hoped that some day his father will accept his girlfriend but for that to become a reality he had to keep in touch. Hesitantly Adrien agreed and hung up.

“Plagg? I’m not leaving you alone unless you explain yourself.” – the young man returned his attention to a little creature after ending the call.

Plagg tensed. He knew that kwamis were not supposed to intrude into their miraculous welders lives but that was getting ridiculous and just plainly more than he could handle. He opened his little mouth…

“You are an idiot, Adrien! You guys were dating since you were 18, moved in together two years later and both of you are 24 right now. Six years together, both of you know that you’ll be together for the rest of your lives; most of your friends are married already and you, my child, spent over a year to find a ring!!!??? Who needs that crazy idea of a perfect ring in your head?! If it were up to me, I’d get you the first thing at the first store and force you to pop the question five minutes later! But no! You have to suffer yourself and drag me around to witness it. I had just about enough of it!”

But out load he gravely pronounced: 

“I’m just saying that you have to get your shit together and propose before Marinette will start to think that you don’t love her enough to marry and kicks you out.” 

Plagg hissed, still too irritated to look at his foolish owner.

“Marinette knows I love her, Plagg. I am making sure she knows it very well but I refuse to give her anything but the perfect proposal. She deserves only the best and anything just won’t do. It must be perfect.”

Plagg huffed loudly and murmured.

“Perfect… but don’t be surprised when she’ll perfectly kick your perfect ass out of your perfect apartment soon… Ugh! Just forget it and give me my cheese. I need to replenish my energy.”

“But we haven’t even transformed. Where did you waste your energy, Plagg?”

“Your shopping sprees are much more exhausting than a transformation, Adrien. Cheese, please.”

The blond took a piece of Camembert out of his bag and shoveled it into kwami’s tiny hands before someone could see it. Then he texted Marinette that he’ll be home later than expected and headed to his father’s house with a slight worry in his soul. Plagg might be right in some things but it surely wasn’t as bad as he made it sound. 

The lunch started as usual – chilly but polite, small talk about the weather and a few questions concerning his health. Next Adrien expected work related inquiries but to his astonishment after a couple of minutes Gabriel did something he thought he would never do.

“What are your plans concerning your girlfriend, Adrien? Marinette Dupain-Cheng, isn’t it? Are you planning to marry her any time soon?”

Adrien almost chocked on his salad and stared back in shock at his father who continued to eat his meal looking completely normal.

“Why are you asking, father?” – was all he could master right now.

Gabriel didn’t like Marinette at first and even was straight enough to tell Adrien that he won’t allow him to marry a baker’s daughter because she wasn’t appropriate for his social standing, but over the years an older Agreste started to warm up to the girl. She was good mannered and, he had to admit it even if only to himself, beautiful. She was undoubtedly talented and skilled in her trade and she never interfered with Adrien’s responsibilities but, on contrary, she always supported him. When his son did take her out with him to some official arrangements, she always was a picture perfect girlfriend knowing when and what to say and to do. She always looked perfect and appropriate. Flawless. Gabriel had nothing bad to say against the girl and slowly a thought of Adrien marrying Marinette wasn’t as terrifying as before. However, he had never acknowledged that to Adrien, in case he’ll change with mind later.

Gabriel put his cutlery down and replied with a firm, low voice.

“I want you to marry her as soon as possible or at least to propose to seal the deal. Preferably by the end of a next week, a month at most.”

For a moment Adrien thought that either his father was abducted and experimented on by some friendly alien race or he was on some ridiculous reality TV show at the moment. And because the blond knew from the experience that TV shows and Gabriel Agreste didn’t mix well, he decided that it must have been those friendly aliens who caused this sudden change. The young man deliberated in his mind for a minute if he should reveal his ring problem to his so obviously abducted and re-engineered father or not when Gabriel continued.

“Well, I see that you are not objecting so we might as well move forward with the plan.”

That was getting interesting. Adrien straightened up in his chair, curiously observing what his father will do. The man motioned something to Natalie and she disappeared into the other room. A minute later she reappeared with a small, black case, which was placed on a small side table to Adrien’s right. Natalie opened it and Adrien almost fell out of his seat. Inside the case was a big, black jewelry holder that contained about ten gorgeous engagement rings, definitely not something anyone could buy off the street. 

“I took a liberty of choosing a couple of necessary accessories for your proposal, which, I think, will suit Mrs. Dupain-Cheng’s personality very well but I left the final choice up to you since you know her the best…”

Adrien looked stunned.

“Father…” – he tried to interrupt. However the older man continued talking, taking out a small envelope from his inside pocket.

“Here are two tickets to Maldives for the next week. The location should be romantic enough for proposal and your hotel is the best and the most private on the island. I know, that your girlfriend have the next week off and Natalie completely cleared your schedule so …”

Adrien stood up.

“Father!”

His son’s suddenly raised voice stunned Gabriel enough to make him stop speaking and look at the confused model on the other end of the table.

“What is it, Adrien?”

“What is going on here? I don’t understand you, father. You disliked Marinette from the day you found out about her and, as I clearly remember, you forbade me to even think about marrying her and now you are basically forcing me to propose? Not that I protest but… what happened? You never do anything without a personal interest of some kind.”

Designer sighed irritably not taking his sight away from Adrien.

“Do you want to marry Mrs. Dupain-Cheng or not?”

Adrien crossed his arm on his chest staring back at the man who raised him with burning eyes.

“Of course I do, father, but I don’t want you forcing me to do it and, unless you explain yourself, I won’t do anything you just said.”

Gabriel sighed, stood up and walked away from the table up to the window. Looking into the distance, his facial features changed just for a second revealing for a quick glimpse a tired and aging man, however, the mirage was gone as soon as it appeared and the man was again his old, business-like and calculating person. His posture showed signs of an extreme concentration and thinking before he turned around and spoke. 

“It came to my attention that your girlfriend’s year long apprenticeship at Moco Flanel comes to its end this week. I am also aware that she will receive a couple of offers not only from my and Flanel’s office but also from the Cior and they, as you know, are my biggest competitors in this business. Anyone would agree that for very obvious reasons I cannot afford the girlfriend of my son working for my rivals…”

A highly disappointed and irritated voice interrupted Gabriel’s monologue: “So you decided to marry me off to her to insure her loyalty?”

The man looked stunned for just a split moment but regained his posture almost immediately and continued:

“Well, you can put it that way, if you want. She proved to be a quite talented designer and will no doubt be a valuable addition to my team. And, it seemed to me, counting in your multiple jewelry stores visits, you anyway intended to propose to her for some time now. I thought, you’ll be able to handle the matter on your own but you are clearly taking more time than needed for some unknown reasons and I cannot wait any longer, Adrien. Mrs. Dupain-Cheng will surely have to make her decision about which offer to accept soon and I’d really prefer her not choosing my competitors. I think, that even you have to understand that, in case, she does go with someone else, sooner or later she’ll be faced with a conflict-of-interests issues. That’s why we need you to pursue her to work for Agreste brand and what could be a bigger motivator than a marriage to you? She’ll be obliged to work for a family… Adrien?”

The blond snapped out of his trance. He hardly listened to the last half of his father’s speech as his sight locked on one particular ring in a row of others for quite some time ago. It was it! The ring he had in his visions, the perfect ring for his princess. Not too huge but still a decent size tear-clear diamond was incrusted into pink-colored gold band that consisted of a couple of plaited, elegant bands with a rows of smaller diamonds set in. The main rock was nested in a frame that reminded him of flower petals. To describe it better would be to say that it looked like a small, elegant rose with a diamond center and sparkling smaller stars all around it. Very soft and feminine, very unique, very Marinette, his perfect ring. He finally found it.

A sudden, sharp sound of his name forced Adrien’s attention away and back to a silver-haired man in front of him.

“Adrien, I hope, you understand situation and will follow through with your part.”

Oh! Adrien did understand everything, even though, he barely heard most of his father’s explanation. He, actually, didn’t need to hear everything to know one thing – Gabriel controlled his life for the most part since he was born and now he also wanted to expand his borders to include Marinette because if he wouldn’t she could be a threat to his business very soon. 

Anger rose up inside of Adrien. He loved Marinette too much to allow that. He wanted to marry her. Gosh, he was already in a process of making that a reality for over a year but he didn’t want it to be just another business deal, some kind of scheme of his father to advance and protect his business. He didn’t want her to be controlled by Gabriel Agreste and he would do everything in his power to keep her safe.

His voice was firm and confident, accompanied by a fire in his eyes.

“I won’t allow you, father! I love Marinette and I won’t allow you to tie her up and control her life just as you do with mine. She will work for whomever she would choose on her own and I refuse to influence her in that matter. If she wants Moco or Cior, she’ll accept their offers and I won’t object. Even if she’ll want to work for you, that will be fine with me but Marinette will have to make her own choice based on what she wants and not what you are scheming behind her back. I won’t interfere myself and I won’t allow you to do it, so I won’t propose until she choses on her own where she wants to work! And one last thing - when I do propose, I will do it on my own terms, how I want and not by your scenario.”

Adrien stood up sharply and put on his jacket getting ready to leave the room. However, before he stepped away from the table, he leaned down and took the ring, his perfect ring, from the case.

“I hope you won’t object if I’ll take that. Thank you for the lunch, father. Have a nice day.”

Adrien turned away and walked out of the room leaving one stunned man and one shocked secretary behind. Sighing heavily Gabriel walked back to the table, reached for the case and turned it around to see which ring Adrien took. A small smile graced his usually so strict and cold face. He chuckled to himself.

“You are not so different from me, son. Choosing the same ring I chose for your mother so many years ago… Guess, good taste runs in the family after all. Let’s hope that this girlfriend of yours has a good sense of what will be best for her too and is responsible and mature enough to act accordingly… like your mother did, Adrien.”

He closed the case and told Natalie to take everything away returning back to his seat to finish off his meal. However, just before his secretary stepped out he called her again.

“By the way, Natalie, do not cancel those tickets. And do keep Adrien’s schedule clear for the next week.”

The woman nodded and left the room. Gabriel smirked.  
_______________________________________

He could see it all so clearly now - in a too big room of a huge mansion one little boy’s eyes were closing down while his mother was reading him a book he liked before his sleep. Adrien remembered everything now – his mother’s image was so crispy bright now - her warmth and love, her gentleness and her kindness. She was beautiful. He always remembered her in his heart but he did forget some details. However, as soon as he laid his eyes on that ring it all came back. He now most vividly remembered a gold sparkling flower on his mama’s finger – he was always fascinated by it, he often caught himself admiring how it shined in the lights and one day, he wished, he could give his beautiful princess something just as beautiful as his mother’s ring. 

This ring was now his to give. The only thing remained – to find a perfect moment to give it to her.


	2. Chloe effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes even the best intentions don't play as wanted...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second and the last descriptive chapter to get you an idea of what is going on. Next comes the fun part :)

“Why are you crying, sweetie?”

 

A little girl was hiding in a corner of her room. She sat on a floor and hugged her knees while trying to suppress her crying but nothing can be hidden from her mama. Sabine sat down besides her little daughter and pulled her close, wiping away her hot tears.

 

“There, there, Marinette. What happened? Tell me everything, darling.”

 

A few desperate sobs split the quiet of the room before her little girl pouting her little, cute lips could say anything.

 

“They told me that I couldn’t play with them anymore, mama. They told me I am too clumsy, not good enough for their team and because of me they are always losing… Louisa even said she doesn’t want to be my friend any longer because I embarrass her all the time…”

 

A fresh wave of tears sprung down her cheeks as her mama hugged her tighter.

 

“Oh, honey. Don’t cry. It’s not you who should be crying right now. Your team just lost a good, reliable teammate and Louisa just lost a very cute and loyal friend. One day they all will understand that. Don’t cry, Marinette, and don’t waste your time on someone who doesn’t appreciate you for who you are. Believe me, very soon you’ll meet new wonderful friends who will love you and accept you just as you are with all your amazing sides and also with your little faults.

 

Marinette raised her little, blue eyes up and whispered:

 

“Even my clumsiness?”

 

“Everything, darling. We all have our own little faults and real friends understand that nobody is perfect and will still love you, clumsy or not. For a true friend you’ll be good enough just as you are, Marinette. Let go of those who don’t appreciate you and destiny will send you those who will.”

 

Little girl smiled through her still rolling tears and cuddled closer.

 

“Thank you, mama. I’ll try to do that - let go of those for whom I am not good enough so I can meet those for whom I am.”

________________________________________________________

 

A few sunrays played around the space, bringing light and warmth into the spacious, modern living room but failing miserably to brighten the mood of one who sat at the table. She sadly looked at a big, pink box titled “My Dream Wedding” and sighed, wondering if she’ll ever need the ideas she so carefully gathered and saved in it over the years after they move in together. Two different color schemes, three cake designs, ten places where she wanted to do a photo shoot, four different bridesmaid’s dresses in three different colors, two venue halls she’d really liked, one garden if Adrien wuold want an outdoor reception, a church she’d prefer, three designs of a bride’s bouquet and many, many more, including one sketch of a white gown, which she redid a couple of times until it was absolutely perfect… Not that she’ll ever needed it now… probably…

 

“Do you think he still loves me, Tikki?”

 

Little, red kwami groaned and plopped on a table right in front of Mari’s nose. She was honestly getting really annoyed by the whole situation and sometimes wished so bad that she could just tell Marinette everything that Plagg was spilling to her from Adrien’s life. She was itching to scream that her love-sick boy was scouting Paris for the perfect ring for over a year now while his girl was agonizing over if he still loves her just because of some brat’s comment.

 

“Of course, he does, Marinette, and you know it. Why would you even think that he doesn’t?”

 

The girl in question buried her face in her hands, fully leaning on a table in front of her secret wedding box. She took out the sketch of her wedding dress and just stared at it for a while, admiring the elegant design and dreaming of how beautiful it would be in real life… if she’ll ever need it, that is.

 

“Gosh, why am I even so hung up on getting married, Tikki? I am a grown woman not some overly romantic teenager and it shouldn’t matter that much, right? Adrien loves me and that’s what important. I should simply ignore the rest and just be happy.”

 

Deep inside Marinette knew perfectly clear that Adrien loved her - there was no doubt about that. He always was so gentle and considered with her. He always made sure she was happy and content. He had the loveliest pet names for her and when he looked at her his eyes always shined. He always hugged her first thing in a morning and kissed her goodnight just before falling asleep. He did love her and she knew that. What she wasn’t sure about was if he loved her enough to want to make it official. Lately Marinette started to suspect that, possibly, that was not the case and the reason for that was her and her alone.

 

“But then… I just… Sometimes… Ugh! I am so confused, Tikki. I spent some much time dreaming about my wedding and how amazing it will be… dreaming that he’ll commit to me and me alone… what girl wouldn’t love to hear the love of her life say: I love you Marinette, will you marry me?”

 

For just a few seconds a smile graced her wistful face before being replaced by a frown and sad eyes just a moment later.

 

“But it looks like Adrien doesn’t share me dreams, Tikki… maybe… maybe this all is just not enough for him? He is Agreste. Maybe he needs more than just… just me… Do you think… that maybe Chloe was right after all, Tikki? Should I really let him go so he could be happy?”

 

Her whole frame deflated into the table as tears started to form at a slight remembrance of that evening two years ago that kick started all of this.

 

It was a wedding of one of Adrien’s friends and they attended it together as a couple. Marinette didn’t know most of the people at this high profile event so she tried her best to stick with Adrien most of the time, especially, because there was one guest on a list she really didn’t want to encounter by herself – Chloe Bourgeois. She wasn’t afraid of her, no. She just really, really despised the girl who made her school years that much more worse than they could’ve been, not to mention her tricks at the prom. However, to some places she just couldn’t take her boyfriend to protect her – namely a women’s bathroom.

 

Finishing the last of her touch-ups, Marinette was about to head out when a painfully, familiar figure appeared to her right.

 

“Well, well, just look who is here. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Didn’t expect you to be here but since you are - how have you been?” – a so familiarly, annoying voice of one named Chloe Bourgeois split the silence.

 

“Nice to see you too, Chloe. I am just fine and, I hope, everything is great with you but I don’t have time for a chat. Have to run - Adrien is waiting for me” – babbled Marinette rashly and, hastily packing her clutch, she was about to walk out the room when the blond smirked and tiredly sighed.

 

“Oh, don’t worry, Marinette. I don’t want you old, boring Adrien anymore. You can keep him all you want. I have something much better now. As a matter of a fact, I am currently engaged to this amazing man of mine.”

 

An unexpected and sudden but pleasant wave of relieve washed over Marinette as she stopped walking and turned around to face Chloe with a small smile.

 

“Well, that’s great Chloe. Congratulations! I hope that you’ll be happy enough to leave us alone.”

 

To much of Marinette’s surprise, Chloe seemed to blush a little and even gave her a little, almost genuine smile.

 

“I am happy, Marinette, and I wish you the same.”

 

At this point Marinette started to suspect that the young woman before her wasn’t Chloe at all but, probably, her long-lost, kind twin, as she frowned and exhaled.

 

“Huh?”

 

The blond smirked.

 

“Oh, come on, Marinette! Don’t tell me that you are still holding a grudge on me for that little prank? That’s an ancient history now.”

 

“Well, I am taking it back. It’s definitely Chloe.” – thought Marinette as she started to tense up.

 

“A little prank?”

 

“Well, maybe not so little,” – she was interrupted.” … but I did served my punishment so you can’t hold onto that anymore.”

 

Two girls stood in silence for a few seconds before the blond turned her attention to the mirror and started to touch up her make-up.

 

“Can I ask you a question, Marinette?”

 

She didn’t even wait for a response before continuing.

 

“Is Adrien happy with you?”

 

Still confused Marinette observed her school rival for a moment before replying. Something about her just felt… different. Chloe seemed to change somehow – Marinette couldn’t point out exactly what, but she could feel it. Chloe still made those nasty remarks that you would expect from her, but her tone was different. Her sight wasn’t as fateful as before and, to be honest, her last question sounded rather more concerning and genuine than anything she’d ever said to Marinette. Maybe, her now non-existent friendship with Adrien did have a value to her after all.

 

“Of course, he is, Chloe. We are very happy together.”

 

The blond switched her attention from her face to her hair.

 

“Are you sure, Marinette?”

 

The girl frowned and cross her arm on her chest.

 

“Of course, I am. Why would I doubt it?”

 

“Why?” – asked Chloe and turned around to face Marinette again. “Because actions speak louder than words, honey, and Adrien’s actions, or lack of those in your case, clearly telling me a different story. It seems that dear, old Adrien isn’t too happy with you or at least he isn’t planning to stick around forever.”

 

Marinette’s face turned red with anger but Chloe completely ignored it taking her hand and pointing out an empty spot on her finger.

 

“And before you start objecting, let me point out to you that, even after all those years together, I see that Adrien haven’t proposed yet, now had he? All those talks about being meant for each other, about you being a perfect match, about you being good enough for him just as you are… I guess, they were only just that - only talks, Marinette. My Pierre proposed to me six month after we’ve met – that what is being in love and meant for each other means, not sweet talks and promises and no ring after years of being together. If Adrien haven’t acted on his words, I guess, it means that you are not enough for him after all, darling.”

 

Marinette snatched her hand back and glared back at the blond.

 

“You know perfectly, Chloe, that it’s just a formality. A piece of paper is not defining our relationship or our love…”

 

“Or that is what you are telling everybody to reassure yourself, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. But that’s fine. Keep lying to yourself, I don’t mind. The larger the lie the harder your fall from the top will be, but remember what I said in ten years and if he’s still holding back, look for someone else while you still have a chance.”

 

Marinette turned around ready to go as she snapped back.

 

“Well, I trust Adrien and am not fixated on some piece of paper unlike you, Chloe.”

 

Suddenly the blond erupted into laughs.

“For your information, Marinette, that piece of paper, as you call it, shows in reality if a man is ready to commit himself to you forever or not. Pierre loves me, so he didn’t even hesitate to propose right away, but Adrien is holding back… I wonder why? Maybe he doesn’t trust you? After all with his commitment comes a lot of money… or maybe he doesn’t because you are not it for him… Not good enough… Take my advice, honey. If Adrien doesn’t want to make it official find someone who will. You are not getting younger, so don’t hold on to his empty promises and go make a future for yourself with someone who will think you are good enough for them. And let Adrien do the same in a process.”

 

Marinette glared back and screeched through her teeth.

 

“And you are saying that you are done with getting in between us? All you ever wanted was to break us apart…”

 

A loud snort rocked through an upscale washroom.

 

“Oh, please, Marinette, honestly. I will repeat it again for you - I don’t want your Adrien. What I want, however, is to tell you that if your relationship doesn’t grow, maybe something is broken. I met Pierre only after I stopped drooling for Adrien and looked around me to discover a much wider choice. I know, what you think about me and I don’t blame you, but Adrien will always be my friend and I want him happy. Obviously, something doesn’t work between you two if you are still both just dating so I am sharing my experience, honey. So if Adrien is not willing to commit, forget him and look around for someone else. You both will happier.”

 

That was just about all that Marinette could take. She quickly shot back “We don’t need your advice, Chloe!” and promptly walked out of the washroom, but her mood and the evening was already ruined and a seed of doubt started to grow.

 

Why **didn’t** he want to commit? It wasn’t the money… Marinette knew very well that Adrien was indifferent to the riches of this world… Then… was it her? Was she really not good enough for him? Maybe, after all of those years Adrien finally realized that he was in love with Ladybug and Marinette just could never fill her shoes… She’ll never be just as amazing as Ladybug… Adrien had probably understood that now too and hadn’t yet broke up with her only out of pity…

 

An hour later she told Adrien that she had a headache and asked if it’ll be alright for her to leave early. He didn’t protest but said that he had to stick around a little bit longer and he’ll catch up to her soon. Something about his responsibilities as Agreste representative at the event… Marinette understood and left alone but it didn’t stop her from wondering if he’ll use that time to look for someone else, who would be better than her, who would be good enough for him. Ever since that evening these sickening thoughts and doubts wouldn’t leave Marinette and while she continued, despite everything, collect bridal ideas and stuff for her future wedding, she wasn’t so sure anymore that it would happen at all… well, at least that it’ll happen with Adrien... or in a near future.

 

Tikki flew to the young woman’s nose and boldly poked her with a tine paw.

 

“You perfectly know it yourself, that Chloe was just trying to get to you and she is nowhere near being right, Marinette. Chloe doesn’t exactly like you and only wanted to spoil your happiness, just as she always did, so you shouldn’t listen to her. Adrien loves you just as you are. He never stopped loving you and, I am sure, he will propose soon. Don’t forget that he is a man and his species are so unpredictable and slow thinking sometimes! Maybe he is already planning something, you never know. Just give him some time, sweetie.”

 

A soft, small smile broke on Marinette’s face. Tikki always was trying to support her and she was right – Marinette shouldn’t let Chloe’s mean remarks spoil her life. The problem was that Chloe didn’t planted those seeds she only encouraged them to grow… The seeds themselves were planted long ago before that by… Marinette herself.

 

“Do you remember how Adrien proposed for us to move in together, Tikki?”

 

Kwami nodded, a slight smile appearing on her face.

 

“How could I forget, Marinette? It was so… so Chat Noir style.”

 

Six years ago, after the school graduation, almost everyone they knew has gone their separate ways. Most of their classmates enrolled into different schools not even all over the Paris, but all over France, so neither Adrien nor Marinette had many close friends left in their lives. Luckily for them, Alya and Nino stayed in Paris, started dating and enrolled in a same college. However, Marinette and Adrien weren’t so fortunate themselves, in a college department that is. Despite the lucky duo’s bond only growing stronger over the years, their civilian lives were a little bit different. They studied in different schools and, even thought they weren’t far from each other, an unavoidable separation most of the time was really taking it’s toll on them. The young adults were faced with a reality of barely seeing the other most of the time too busy with their studies.

 

Adrien was able to endure for two years before not seeing Marinette all the time, or at least once a day, became more than he could bear anymore. A plan quickly formed in his head and after a few weeks of preparations, he acted.

 

On Marinette’s twentieth birthday, at a sunrise he was impatiently knocking on a trap door of her balcony with a beautiful bouquet of her favorite roses.

 

“Happy Birthday, Princess.” – Chat whispered already crawling under her comforter and encircling one sleepy girl in his arms.

 

Marinette barely opened her eyes, smiling and sleepily sinking into his embrace.

 

“Couldn’t you wait until I wake up, kitty?”

 

He planted a soft kiss on the top of her head.

 

“Nope. I couldn’t wait any longer, my Lady. I have a present, which I wanted to give you for an eternity now. So, please, my Lady, wake up and accept my gift.”

 

Chat was grinning from ear to ear. He sat up and pulled a small, velvet black box out of his pocket. Marinette gasped covering her mouth with her hands. The girl stared at the thing in Chat’s hand mesmerized, her mind blanking out from the shock. The box just looked too similar to all those engagement ring’s boxes she saw in every jewelry store and in all those romantic movies she sometimes liked to watch with Alya.

 

But along with excitement a rush of fear struck her head on… What if there really was a ring… She was too young to marry yet… She was only in her second year of college and she didn’t plan to settle down until after she finishes school… but she loved him and didn’t want to say “No”… but still… it’s too yearly… Agh! What was he thinking?

 

“Adrien, I’m not sure …”

 

He softly placed a finger to her lips to shush her.

 

“Just open it before you say anything else, Marinette.”

 

The girl took the box in her hands and opened it. Inside was a key with a ladybug key chain.

 

“A key?”

 

Marinette looked puzzled at grinning but still somehow shy Chat.

 

“I finally got an apartment for myself… not too far from my university and … your school too. Right in a middle between them… so I thought that maybe… maybe you could visit me sometimes… or… move in… if you want…”

 

The boy blushed profoundly, searching her face for a reaction with his hopeful eyes, his tail nervously twitching behind him.

 

“I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it’s really close to your college, much closer than the bakery and we’ll get to see each other more often…”

 

Marinette continued to hold the key in her hands. She looked like she was feverishly thinking about something, not raising her eyes to look at Adrien. He fell silent. Probably it was too soon, he thought… then she smiled and gently kissed his lips.

 

“I’ll have to talk to my parent about it first but I don’t think they will object, Kitty.”

 

A happy smile broke on Chat’s face.

 

“Really? My Lady, you’ll make me the happiest cat alive if you’ll visit me more often.”

 

Marinette pulled him closer to her and whispered softly into his ear.

 

“I am not talking about visits, silly.”

 

His eyes widened to compliment his satisfying grin.

 

“Then, will this Saturday work for you to move in, Princess?”

 

Marinette smiled and kissed him again.

 

“Saturday sounds great, Adrien.”

_________________________________________

 

That day she was relieved the box contained a key instead of a ring but when they started to attend all those multiple weddings all of the sudden (16 up to a date in four years), Marinette caught herself wishing that maybe a ring wouldn’t be so bad after all. She undoubtedly will look amazing in that dress she already designed. She certainly would try her best to be a perfect wife for her kitty. She even started to debate again if Louis was a good name for their third child, because the first two will definitely be Emma and Hugo.

 

But for some reason Adrien wasn’t anywhere close to proposing. They didn’t even talk about it and she never noticed him displaying a slightest interest in the subject.

She did discuss this question with Alya who cornered her one day and started an interrogation after noticing a particularly depressed mood of her best friend. Ever since then, it was Alya, aside from Tikki, who either comforted her or was kicking her butt for doubting Adrien. And it was Alya who nearly killed her last month when she shyly expressed a thought that maybe she should let Adrien go, so he could find a better suited person for himself… because she definitely wasn’t good enough for him. Yes, she almost killed her that time…

 

… and she will do it again, because Marinette was already running late for their lunch date today!

 

About twenty minutes later, almost out of breath Marinette ran into a café and saw Alya sitting in a corner peacefully sipping her coffee and numbing on her pate du chocolate.

 

“I’m so sorry, Alya, I…”

 

The redheaded girl sighed.

 

“Oh, don’t worry, Marinette. I wasn’t waiting long.”

 

Marinette was surprised. She was 20 minutes late…

 

“You weren’t? Didn’t we agree to meet at 12:00?”

 

Alya smirked.

 

“Yes, we did, but I purposely told you to come 10 minutes earlier than I could be here since I know that most of the time “someone” is running late and I for once want to have lunch with you and not an empty chair where you are supposed to seat.”

 

“Oh.” – Marinette breathed out and sat down. “Fair enough. Smart move.”

 

Alya raised her eyes.

 

“What’s wrong, Marinette?”

 

The girl lowered her eyes completely unable to hide her roller coasting emotions even if she tried.

 

“Nothing.”

 

Alya put down her cup and stared back.

 

“Don’t nothing me, Marinette. I just insulted you and you didn’t fight back. You look miserable and **don’t** you **dare** to tell me that you are pondering about Adrien’s inability to propose or his love for you again! I swear, if you start that again, I’ll just go and talk to him!”

 

“NO!!!! Don’t you do that, Alya! I’ll never speak to you again if you do that!”

 

Alya smirked, looking at her suddenly resurrected from a depression, furious friend. She knew that there was only one thing Marinette wouldn’t allow her to do – talk to Adrien about what was going on with Marinette, even if she really – really wanted to. Marinette made it pretty clear that that was something out of question and she won’t forgive Alya if she dared to do that. So she respected her wishes… for now.

 

“Oh, Marinette, I just don’t understand you. If you want it so badly, why don’t you just go and talk to him? Communication, girl! I’m sure you know what it is, right? I bet that is just a simple, stupid reason behind this all. Please, spare us all and just talk, or let me to do it for you.”

 

Marinette sighed heavily, looking somewhere in a distance.

 

“You know I can’t do that, Alya. If I talk to him one of two things will happen. Either, he will tell me that I am not good enough for him and break up with me. Or he will explain why he haven’t propose yet and will do it right away or soon after our conversation… but… then I’ll live my whole life not knowing if he really wanted to marry me or if I forced him to do it by asking myself… And I am not prepared yet for any of those two options. I can’t lose Adrien and I can’t live with him not knowing if he wants it too or did I force him.”

 

The journalist sighed. She really did love those two but they honestly were getting on her nerves. Anyone could see how much in love they were, so what was really up with them? Why didn’t Adrien propose yet? She couldn’t talk to him herself as she promised Marinette but…

 

Alay smirked and put her hand over Marinette’s while raising the other to call a server for Marinette.

 

“Well, I am sure that everything will work out just fine, Marinette. For now, let’s just focus on positive and try to actually enjoy our lunch, ok? I have tons of news to tell you… Right after you place our order.”

 

Marinette smiled. Alya had a unique ability to successfully distract her from her sad thoughts, so why not help her and actually try to enjoy this lunch. Adrien and everything related can wait.

 

While Marinette was caught up in choosing her order, the journalist was quickly typing something in her phone a few minutes later. And how didn’t she think about that before? Well, in her defense, she wasn’t feeling very well recently and everything was a blur most of the time, but still she should’ve thought about such an obvious solution much sooner. Well, while Alya promised not to discuss anything “Marinette-is-depressed-because-you-won’t-propose” issue with Adrien, her hubby Nino didn’t. So… Distractions aside, they were seriously running out of time because very soon Alya will be forced to tell Marinette her little secret and she wasn’t expecting that things would get any better if Adrien won’t act before that. In the best-case scenario, Marinette will act normally, but she’ll be even more depressed for sure. In the worst… Well, let’s not think about that. The main point was - they had to play everything smart and quick… and everything would be fine.

 

Alya smiled to herself - “Oh, yes, girlfriend, just watch me, I’ll get you engage to him in a blink of an eye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, who is ready for the fun?


	3. With help of a kwami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien's got the ring. Now he tries to propose...

“I can’t believe it, dude? So you’ve actually found it?”

 

Nino stared at the content of a small, black box not believing that his friend’s ring quest was finally over and both of them would soon be free from all those sneaking around and secrets, trying to visit jewelry stores without Marinette finding out or keeping the whole deal a secret from Alya, which proven to be more difficult than he’d ever imagined.

 

“So what is so special about it? Don’t get me wrong, bro, it’s gorgeous but why this one?”

 

Taking the box away Adrien smiled.

 

“Well, I can’t believe myself that I forgot but it was my mother’s ring. It was up in my head all this time because I remembered it from my childhood. I just didn’t remember that it was hers. But, hey, the hard part is over. Now, I need to propose and hope that she’ll say “Yes”.”

 

Nino smirked and crossed his arms on a chest.

 

“I hope you are not serious, man. Of course, she’ll say yes. If you’d only known…”

 

He stopped rapidly, biting on his tongue and took out his cellphone pretending that he just received a text or an email or something urgent needing his attention a.s.a.p. Glancing at his screen, Nino noticed an unread message from his wife, read it, smirked and continued.

 

“Yeh, you better hurry, cause I don’t know how long I can keep it a secret from Alya anymore. Especially now, when she is so emotional and unpredictable… it’s getting kind of really hard, dude.”

 

Adrien smiled slyly, remembering his own experiences with Marinette’s mood swings a couple of the first times she was on her period after they moved in together. “Oh, fun times… better not repeated anymore” – he thought to himself.

 

“Yeh, I know, women and their periods… emotions over the top. Been there, done that, not willing to repeat or help you there.”

 

Nino chuckled.

 

“Well, yeh, sure... By the way, would you terribly mind if I tell her already about the whole deal, since you found the ring? I mean, Alya’s been already pressuring me for almost a week now to force you to propose to Marinette or else...”

 

Adrien laughed and shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

 

“I guess, there will be no harm in that now… As long as she swears not to tell Marinette until I do propose. Not even a hint.”

 

“Sure. Thanks, man. You have no idea how…” Nino trailed off before changing the subject. “But, hey, let’s get back to the topic cause Alya would kill me if she’ll find out that we are discussing her periods and not your romantic proposal. Do you have a plan already?”

 

Adrien hid the box back into his bag and proceeded to chew on his croissant.

 

“I have an outline but not a firm plan yet. I mean, I googled 100 most romantic and unique ways to propose and let me tell you, man, there are some really cool options out there.”

 

Nino’s eyebrow shot up in excitement.

 

“Like what…?”

 

His blond friend grinned and sip a little of his coffee before continuing.

 

“Well, one of my personal favorites is a Pokémon style sphere proposal.”

 

At this point Nino choked on his drink but seemed to be even more interested than ever as Adrien continued.

 

“Basically, I have to challenge Marinette to a fake Pokémon battle and when she’ll open her ball there will be a ring and a note “I choose you”. Then I drop on one knee and ask her the question… which sounds amazing but something tells me that Mari won’t really appreciate the magic of Pokémon.”

 

Adrien frowned as Nino’s laugh rocked the café they were having lunch in. After a minute, when he could get a hold of himself, he chuckled.

 

“I’m sorry Adrien… but I think you are right… leave the magic of Pokémon for your future kids…LOL. The only worse choice would be a Sailor Moon theme proposal…”

 

Nino rapidly stopped laughing, watching Adrien’s face to turn crimson.

 

“You didn’t! Dude! Are you serious?”

 

“You are no fun either, Nino.” – murmured the blond.

 

“Hey, hey, hey! Wait just a second. I love the idea, man, but you know girls – they always want something mushy, lovey-dovey, romantic, etc. thing. You have to get all weepy and sentimental if you want to succeed. Listen, I have an idea for you. Have you thought about taking her to a zoo?”

 

Both man snorted and almost chocked on their food.

 

“If I remember correctly, **someone** already took her there for a love confession and it didn’t exactly go very well, man.”

 

Nino protested.

 

“Hey! I was young and inexperienced! Didn’t know what was good for me and what I wanted myself, so don’t you point fingers, bro. For you it might actually work better.”

 

Adrien sighed, treading his hand through his hair, disheveled from the laugh fit he just had.

 

“I don’t know, Nino. I don’t find animals as romantic as you do and, I suspect, that Marinette will agree with me. Anyways, she only likes black cats, you know… And she can see them every day whenever she wants, wherever she desires. Meaw.”

 

Adrien grinned but Nino only chuckled.

 

“I know, man. Don’t start again with all that superhero business and inside jokes of yours. We aren’t exactly in the most private of spaces so let us move on and actually do some progress before I have to report to Alya. Do you have any other ideas?”

 

Adrien reach for a éclair and continued.

 

“Well, I had a couple of ideas but I have a hint that Marinette will appreciate them just as much as the one with Pokémon so I decided to be really “cheesy” about it.”

 

Nino took his fifth croissant and, shoveling it in his mouth, muttered:

 

“I hope you are not doing anything with that Camembert of yours that I have no idea why Plagg loves so much, man. It stinks!”

 

Adrien’s cheeks flushed a little as he chuckled.

 

“No, not Camembert, even though **_someone_** insisted on it really hard.” He pointed out to his chest pocket and continued. “No. I’ll use the other cheese, Mari’s favorite.”

 

“You are losing me here, man. How are going to propose with a cheese?”

 

Adrien finished his drink and continued.

 

“Well, our “Spoil Mari Day” is coming up in a couple of days, so I booked a part of Le Jardin des Plantes…”

 

Nino chocked.

 

“Le Jardin des Plantes?”

 

“The one and the only.” – grinned Adrien. “They have a private part at the back, which you can book for an evening.”

 

“Go on.” – encouraged Nino, turning around to waive to a server for some more treats and a refill of coffee.

 

“Well, the place I chose is gorgeous – the trees and spring flowers are all in bloom so the place basically drowning in beauty. Marinette will absolutely love it. We’ll walk around the park a little and then we’ll have a dinner at a secluded part of the place. Our dishes will be ready by the time we’ll come and on her plate I’ll spell “Will you marry me” in cheese-cut letters so when Mari will lift her cap she’ll see the question.”

 

Nino nodded.

 

“Sounds cool, man. By the way, are you going to be old-fashioned and talk to Tom and Sabine first?” – added Nino.

 

Adrien nodded.

“I already did. A couple of days ago. They both are ecstatic for us to finally get married and I won’t repeat all the embarrassing stuff they sad.” – he trailed off suddenly blushing.

 

Nino snorted.

 

“Let me guess – something to do with grandchildren?”

 

Adrien hummed.

 

“And not only. I had to listen to an expert advice of how to be a perfect husband and the ways to provide them with grandkids a.s.a.p., because, apparently they already have all the necessary equipment for when they need to babysit and Tom gathered a not too little bunch of kid-proofed recipes for our future children, not to mention the amount of baby clothes Sabine brought from her last trip to China. She said it was too cute to just pass and she didn’t know if she’ll go back there before we’d make her a grandma.”

 

Nino broke out in laughs and chuckled.

 

“Well, I hope you listened well and will follow through.”

 

“Nino!” – the blond hissed.

 

“What?” – his friend replied slyly. “This is the real life, Adrien. Grow up a little.”

__________________________________________

 

Adrien really loved his “Spoil Mari Day”. It was their very first couple tradition and even though Marinette was reluctant at first, she soon learned to enjoy it as much as he did. The idea was born when the girl refused to accept another of his gifts, stating that they were just too expensive and she couldn’t simply accept them every other day. After a brief, “not really a fight”, Marinette agreed to give Adrien one day a month for spoiling her the way he wanted and without the right to refuse anything he would bring her way. Ever since then Adrien really loved this day and always was looking for a new ways to spoil his Princess.

 

The fact that Marinette would be expecting something from him on “Spoil Mari Day” was the reason he chose it for his proposal. Adrien really wanted to surprise her and if he’ll take Mari out somewhere expensive on a regular day she would suspect something from the time he would sound his invitation. On this day the man could take his Princess out to Le Jardin des Plantes without her suspecting that something was in the works. This particular evening promised to be an amazingly warm late spring evening and it seemed that the luck was on this cat’s side for once.

 

The blond woke up a little bit earlier than usual in order to make his special waffles for his Lady’s breakfast. He gently kissed the top of Marinette’s head and sneaked out of their bedroom. In just about under twenty minutes Adrien was ready to start his special day. Arranging the food and a fresh cup of coffee on a tray, he murmured under his nose: “Well, today is the day and if I am really going to be cheesy about the whole thing, I might go all the way.” He smiled to himself, sighed for courage and taking the tray in his hands returned to the bedroom… only to find Marinette already dressed and finishing her make-up. She was sporting in her dark blue business dress and a light cardigan on top, which could mean only one thing – she is going to work.

 

“Good morning, Adrien.” – the girl greeted him lightly smiling. “Awww, breakfast in bed. You are amazing, kitty.” She put away her lipstick and plopped back on a bed, taping the other hand on a spot near her for him to sit down.

 

“Come, we’ll have our breakfast together.”

 

Dejected Adrien slowly walked to the bed and settled down.

 

“You didn’t forget what day is today, did you, Mari? You were supposed to stay with me today. Yesterday was supposed to be your last day, wasn’t it?”

 

She nodded, already munching on the waffle.

 

“It was, but I need to go there one more time to tie all the ends and clear my desk. I won’t be long, kitty.” Marinette finally caught a glimpse of a disappointment on his face. “I’m sorry, Adrien. I really wanted to finish everything yesterday but I just couldn’t. I’ll try to do it as fast as possible and come back to you.”

 

“But today was supposed to be my “Spoil Mari Day”- he pouted.

 

Mari giggled and ruffled his still uncombed blond mop of a hair.

 

“We could always do it tomorrow, kitty. After today I’m completely free until I will make my choice where I want to work for the rest of my life and commit myself again. But I promise to keep at least a week or two free before that especially for you.”

 

She leaned over and slowly kissed his lips, but upset Adrien only shook his head.

 

“It has to be today, Mari. I already booked everything and I can’t just move it to different day – they have a waiting list for weeks.”

 

The girl sighed and reached to him again with her hands gently cupping his saddened face.

 

“I am really, really sorry Adrien. I wish, I could stay but I can’t. Let’s try to work this out, ok? What time did you book this thing for?”

 

“Five in the evening.” - he murmured and his princess smiled suddenly.

 

“See, there is no problem, Adrien. I can do that. I only need four or five hours to round everything up and, if I leave now, I should be able to be home by three at the latest. Will that work?”

 

Adrien thought for a moment, then smirked slyly and pulled Marinette closer, whispering into her ear:

 

“If you are not here at three o’clock, prepare to explain to everyone why Chat Noir decided to steal you for himself right through the window of your office in front of everyone.”

 

She giggled and leaned in for a gentle, sweet kiss.

 

“You are such a kitty, Adrien. Jealous, possessive and totally adorable. I love you and I’ll be here at three, don’t worry.”

 

“I love you too” – he breathed out and claimed her lips once more. But in about five minutes Adrien sadly watched as she left him alone in their bedroom. Finishing up his own breakfast he muttered sadly.

 

“Here goes my half of the day of snuggles and movies.”

 

“We can still do everything you want, Adrien. We don’t need Marinette for snuggles and movies.”

 

The blonde’s eyes widened when he saw a grinning, sneering kwami right in front of his nose. He blink once, twice… then slowly turned around and threw the first pillow he could reach at Plagg.

 

“Go snuggle to your cheese, Plagg! Cause this is the last piece you’ll ever get from me!”

_____________________________________

 

Marinette kept her word and at four o’clock they were ready to leave. Adrien wanted the location of their date to stay a secret so the only request he did when she asked him for a hint was that she wore one of her best dresses and let her hair down. She didn’t do that very often but Adrien absolutely adored it when she did. Once both of them were ready Adrien looked at his Princess and couldn’t contain his smile – she was absolutely radiant. She glowed and sparkled and he couldn’t for once even imagine how to live his life without Marinette. He took her hand and slowly kissed the back of it, not taking his eyes of an adorable, blushing face in front of him.

 

“I love you.” – he whispered and purred contently when heard a similar phrase in return.

 

“Let’s go, Princess, your carriage is ready…” – he murmured and pulled her closer. “… right after I pay my respect to your delicious lips, my Lady.”

 

She giggled and melted into his embrace, letting him kiss her softly. A few minutes later Adrien called the driver and once they got in a car passed him a note with an address. The drive was relatively short but when they arrived, Marinette gasped.

 

“Oh, Adrien! I can’t believe it! This is absolutely amazing! You know how much I love flowers and everything is blooming right now…This is so gorgeous…”

 

The blond smiled – he did know. Marinette absolutely adored flowers, all kinds of flowers. She could look at them for hours and she drew much of her inspiration from them. Sometimes he thought that if she wouldn’t be an absolutely stunning female human being, she’d prefer to be a flower. That’s why he decided to propose here – one of the most amazing flower gardens in France and he was absolutely not surprised when she turned back to him and threw her arms around his shoulders.

 

“Thank you.” – she whispered into his ear, not pulling back from him right away but lingering in his embrace for a few minutes.

 

Marinette really treasured moments like these. She also really dreaded them. In times like that, when Adrien went out of his ways to please her, she could feel that he does love her really much. But at the same time she wondered if he did it only because she was Ladybug. Would’ve he done the same for just Marinette? Would’ve he brought her here if she would’ve never received a Miraculous stone? She didn’t have an answer. She didn’t want one now. She only wanted to stay here in his arms in this gorgeous garden forever and be happy.

 

“We have to go, my Lady” – he whispered softly and kissed her temple. “We have a dinner reservation soon and I was hoping we could take a tour of the blooming part of the garden before that.”

 

“You never seize to amaze me, Adrien.”

 

“I live for that, my Lady.”

 

They strode off into the gardens. Marinette was mesmerized – she would walk to a bush or a tree and stroke the delicate blooms with her fingers, she would bent down and smell the fragrant flowers silly wrinkling her cute nose, she would excitedly point out to him the most rare or unusual plants and already planning how she could use that or this element in her new designs. By the time they got close to the place where their dinner was prepared Marinette’s eyes shone with tear of happiness and so was Adrien’s… until he saw the beautifully set table and got a rush of nervousness all of a sudden.

 

“Don’t be nervous, Adrien. It will all be over soon. You love her, she loves you… You are prepared, everything will be fine, just don’t freak out and continue as planned…” – run around his head a voice of reason chasing off all the doubts, fears and insecurities.

 

Their dinner was set in a big, antique gazebo outside of which was drowning in flowers and green. A sent of lilac was lightly lingering in the air and the sun was just touching the horizon, creating one of the most amazing scenes either of them have ever seen.

 

“Oh, wow! This is marvelous, Adrien. I still can’t believe that you did this all for me.”

 

Adrien shifted closer and hugged her waist, pulling Marinette closer.

 

“That’s a silly notion, Mari. I’d give my life for you, not just organize a date, and you know it.”

 

His lips touched hers just as the nasty thought hit the girl’s mind in a bitter reminder – “Yet, for some reason you won’t marry me.”

 

She slowly pulled away and, hiding her eyes, blushed hard from an embarrassment of her own thoughts. At times like this, she felt horrible for even thinking such things, for ever doubting her sweet Adrien. At times like this she felt that she **was** not good enough for him. When those thoughts stroke, she felt like she didn’t appreciate and loved him the way he deserved to be appreciated and loved and… that’s why she’s probably still not his fiancée. He probably feels it too… feels that she isn’t good… enough… even if he continues to act as everything was fine between them.

 

“”Marinette? Is something wrong?” – Adrien looked surprised at her but the girl just blushed harder and smiled.

 

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Really. I am just a little hungry so we should probably get to the dinner already.”

 

As per his agreement with the park, the table was already beautifully set and their first course meals were already ready. Their individual food plates stood covered with elegant silver caps upon seeing which Adrien nervously gulped. As soon as Marinette removes her cap she’ll see his pathetic effort of cheese-cut letters that were supposed to spell “Will you marry me?” on her plate. He himself cut all the letters a day before just to be extra personal with his proposal and brought them here this morning even making sure that they were placed correctly on an empty plate.

 

Adrien pulled a chair for Marinette and after she settled down he anxiously walked over to his side of the table. The girl smiled at him and with an excited “I wonder what delicious food you choose for us” and removed her cap…

 

Marinette blankly stared at her plate and just as Adrien was about to fall on his knee asked:

 

“Is this a joke or a hint that I am getting fat?”

 

The man frowned and looked at her plate, which was… empty. Completely empty. Nothing. Zero! Oh, wait! He looked closer and saw a few, barely noticeable cheese crumbs left scattered around the white porcelain circle. So the cheese, his cheesy proposal that is, was there before. Where than did it…?

 

“I… I don’t … I don’t know.” – he stuttered before taking a hold of his bewilderment and confusion. “Let me find out. Just a minute. I’ll be right back”

 

Adrien rose up and headed into the direction where he knew a waiter was waiting with Marinette’s real food. However, before he reached his destination a faint tug in his chest pocket stopped him. The blond open his jacket only to see an apologetically or was it embarrassingly, no – nervously but still shamelessly, grinning Plagg murmuring:

 

“Sorry, kid…”

 

“Plagg!” – Adrien hissed. “Why…”

 

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t blame me!” – the kwami hissed back. “It was your fault and yours alone! With all your preparation you forgot to feed me!”

 

“Plagg.” – Adrien groaned. “You couldn’t find any other cheese? Did you have to eat my proposal?”

 

The kwami huffed and ceremonially turned his head away.

 

“For whom do you take me? I don’t eat just any cheese…”

 

“Whatever” - blurred the man as he shoveled Plagg back into his pocket, walked to a server and asked him to deliver their meals a little earlier than planned.

 

“I have the ring so I’ll propose anyway, just a little bit later, probably right after the dessert. And you, my unfortunate friend, just lost your chance to be a part of this proposal in addition to eating only cheap stuff for the next week!”

 

Plagg didn’t answer. He just puffed and curled up in his spot.

 

“I’m sorry, Mari. They mixed up the plates and will bring the right one right away” – Adrien smiled shyly at his Princess before placing a kiss on her hand.

 

Marinette giggled and smiled back.

 

“Good, because I already started to freak out about my weight. I didn’t gain anything, did I?

 

The blond watched his adorable smiling girlfriend, soon to be fiancée, with lingering, full of love eyes. He leaned closer and kissed her cheek.

 

“You are an embodiment of perfection, my Lady.”

 

The rest of the dinner went without the glitch. Both, Adrien and Marinette enjoyed the conversation and the food immensely and when sun was about to set, their desserts were already finished.

 

“It’s now or never” – thought Adrien and stood up. He walked over to Marinette and took her by the hand.

 

“Come with my, my Lady, I want to show you something.”

 

The man took her by hand and led to a space behind the gazebo. There was a hidden lake beautifully overgrown with all kinds of flowers and a distant view of Eifel Tower. The setting sun made the water golden and the view was simply breathtaking. Marinette breathed out a soft – “This is so beautiful, Adrien.”

 

“Not as beautiful as you” – he replied softly. He turned to face Mari and slipped his hand into the pocket to pull out the box with his precious ring.

 

“Will you just ask the damn question so we can go already!” – cried out Plagg suddenly as he popped out in a middle of them. Adrien’s lips thinned in angered expression and Marinette’s eyes widened with a mentioning of a “question” part as hope started to rise in her chest.

 

Tikki zoomed after him trying to shush an angry kwami.

 

“Plagg, stop it. Give them a couple of more minutes!”

 

“I can’t! An akuma has been tearing up the Paris for the last ten minutes and because those dumb heads turned off their phone they don’t know! We need to go now!”

 

Adrian clenched his teeth and was about to erupt when Mari stopped him.

 

“Wait, Plagg, just a second. We’ll go right away but first, I think, you said Adrien wanted to ask me something?”

 

She looked at him expectedly but all Adrien could feel was the urgency and rashness of the situation and that was not what he would call the “perfect” moment. His thoughts madly scattered inside his head, trying to find a solution when he unexpectedly for himself blurred out:

 

“Would you go on a vacation with me? Tomorrow? For a week?”

 

A pang of a disappointment struck Marinette’s heart as she struggled to keep her smile alive. Vacation… Of course, it would be something… something… different from what she dared to hoped he was going to ask. Their date so far was so perfect and it seemed to her that Adrien did wanted to ask her something more important than a vacation… but, well, at least he’s not breaking up with her.

 

“I’d love too. Now let’s go. Paris needs us.” – she murmured, already transforming and running away. She wasn’t even looking back at the man who for some reason looked incredibly sad at the moment. She wanted to get away and hide her damn coming tears so she zoomed away leaving him behind.

 

“See you at the battle field, Chat” – was the last words he heard.

 

“Shit” – he cursed as he glared Plagg down.

 

“What? You want Paris to burn down, kid? This akuma is explosive. If I would’ve not interfere in the next ten minutes half of the city would’ve been burned to a stake.”

 

“Just shut up, Plagg! Claws out!”

___________________________________________

 

The battle was dangerous but surprisingly quick. While Chat Noir was somewhat behind his game, obviously upset with something, Ladybug was furious. She fought as it was her last time and the fate of the world depended on this battle alone. She channeled her anger and disappointment into the battle and no creature Hawkmoth was able to do had a chance against her right now. An akuma, a fire-spitting, flying dragon like creature, was defeated in under an hour and the burning city went back to normal in a mere seconds after the “Miraculous Ladybug” cry.

 

Chat nervously looked at Ladybug after their customary fist bump.

 

“I have to go back to the garden to deal with… some stuff. Meet me home?”

 

“Sure” – she replied, relieved that she’ll get a couple of minutes to herself to calm down. Man, why was she so irritated and upset right now. It’s not like he wanted something bad, quite contrary Mari could certainly use a vacation right now – she was exhausted after her year long apprenticeship at Moco Flanel came to an end this week. She had a few job offers and needed to clear her head before deciding which one she’d take – vacation looks like a perfect opportunity she needed. Then why? Why was she so emotional about it? What’s her deal?

 

“Be happy you have a perfect boyfriend who actually cares about you, Mari. Who needs a husband anyway when you can go on a vacation with Adrien Agreste? – she murmured to herself watching Chat running away towards the location of their recent date.

________________________________________

 

Adrien was rigid. This didn’t go as he planned! He was supposed to be engaged to Marinette right now, not scrambling to find a decent, last minute vacation deal on his cellphone at a random street cafe.

 

“You are in so much trouble, Plagg! I can’t even start to describe” – he mumbled under his nose. “Forget that cheese exists cause you are not getting any any time soon. Unless there is an akuma attack and even then you’ll get the cheapest stuff I can find. No petting from anyone. Including Tikki. And I am confiscating your bed. You’ll sleep in a garbage bin for a week…”

 

“Call your old man” – was all that he heard in reply.

 

Adrien huffed.

 

“And why would I want to do that?”

“He offered you a Maldives package not so recently ago and if I remember correctly the tickets were for tomorrow.” – Plagg blurred indifferently.

 

That was actually a good thought. Adrien found Natalie’s number and dialed.

 

“Hi, Natalie… You remember that vacation package dad wanted to give me… Aha… Yes… Perfect! Thanks, Natalie. You are the best! I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

 

The blond stuffed his cell into a pocket and looked at Plagg, who was pretending miserably to be fast asleep. He half smiled and whispered.

 

“You are lucky my father didn’t cancel the tickets yet and they are still available to me. I’ll leave you the bed and maybe allow Tikki to give you a random petting. But no Camembert!”

 

Plagg smirked and murmured into his chest.

 

“That’s what you think.”

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Do you want to know the truth?

Adrien closed his exhausted eyes in a desperate attempt to catch at least a little bit of sleep on a plane. After yesterday’s fiasco, luckily to him or maybe just the opposite, Natalie gave them tickets to Maldives that his father offered a while ago. They, as fate would have it, were booked for today’s early morning so the couple barely had enough time to pack their suitcases and get to the airport. Once on a plane and faced with a long, a little under eleven hours flight Adrien settled in his seat and prepared to catch up on a much-needed sleep when his phone buzzed. He groaned and pulled it out, wondering who was sending him a last minute “have a good vacation” line right before the departure.

 

“Adrien, I hope, you understand that this trip is a business jaunt for me first of all and I will see you back in a week _engaged_ to Mrs. Dupain-Cheng! Otherwise, I’ll deduct the cost of the trip from your paycheque.”

 

“You are just amazing, father, aren’t you?” – the man sighed with an unconcealed irony. “I am happy for you too and hope you have a nice stay in Paris while I am on a business trip fulfilling your wishes.”

 

Irritated, Adrien turned his phone off and shoveled it in the farthest corner of his bag. Soon he was already slipping into oblivion of his thoughts.

 

“This is just too much already. There should be a limit to this nonsense, right? Honestly, I am so tired of getting bossed around by him, it’s sickening. You’d think it would’ve been easier once I lived on my own but it’s still just as bad if not worse. But not this time, father.” – he growled. “This is just way too personal for you to force me to do it your way. I’d better lose a couple of paycheques to cover the cost of this trip than to propose the way you designed and orchestrated. Prepare to be disappointed once again in me, Monsignor Gabriel Agreste…”

 

The man was almost fast asleep when a soft voice brought him back.

 

“I can’t believe you wanted to leave Plagg behind, all alone back in Paris, Adrien. That’s cruel. Why would you want to do that?”

 

“Traitors don’t deserve a vacation, Marinette” – he hissed back, glaring at a black kwami who was hiding in his girlfriend’s purse behind Tikki’s little frame. “He should first learn the appropriateness and correct timing of his words. Then I’ll think about bringing him along with us.”

 

A black haired girl to his left giggled and laid her head on his shoulder.

 

“Oh come on, Adrien. He was just way too excited for this vacation and too worried for the safety of Paris. You can’t really blame him for spoiling the moment. Blame the akuma and Hawkmoth if you must but try to understand Plagg a little. I was still surprised, so it worked despite his intervention – nothing spoiled.”

 

She smiled softly at him but looked out a window in a second becoming more serious.

 

“I hope that Paris will be alright without us. A week is a long time for Ladybug and Chat Noir to be away.”

 

“It should be fine, Marinette” – exhaled tiredly Adrien. “ Don't forget that last akuma was horrendous and tough to beat. And from our experience, usually the guy needs in average a month or at least two weeks before he can make another one after something this big. So we should be fine for a week away.”

 

“Yeh, you probably right” - she agreed hesitantly. “Paris should be fine for now” – she whispered as her eyelids started to get heavy. The last thought that run through Marinette’s head was a memory of Alya’s first words after she told her about the vacation. 

 

“This is it, Marinette! Tropical location, heat, beach, ocean, lots and lots of skin and you two alone… Why do you think men take their women to those places? To propose! You are beautiful and amazing and in a paradise like that Adrien won’t have a choice but to propose. You’ll see. He’ll definitely propose! He probably planned it all already.”

 

“This is…is it …” – a whisper slipped her lips right before she drifted to sleep, still leaning on her already deep in a slumber boyfriend’s shoulder.

__________________________________________

 

“Welcome to La Fleur de la Mer Villas, Monsignor Agreste and Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. My name is Tristan and I am your personal butler and will be showing you around. Follow me to your villa, please. Your baggage is already there and put away in wardrobes.”

 

A tall and very English-looking man motioned them to walk behind him leading the way somewhere inside the resort. The place was amazingly beautiful and even Adrien, who travelled his fair share of the world, was mesmerized by this location. The island was small yet incredibly charming. Eye-blinding white sands and brilliant greens of the trees complemented by the deep blue of the water was entrancing and invigorating. To their surprise their villa stood right in the water. It was a little bigger than the rest of the buildings they saw on their way and it stood farther to the side in order to provide the most privacy possible to it’s occupants.

 

“This is so amazing, Adrien” – squealed excited Marinette as they reached the house. “Oh, wow! Look there is even an outdoor Jacuzzi here” – she exclaimed already disappearing through the next door to check out the rest of the villa.

 

“I hope you have a wonderful stay, Monsignor Agreste. Just to let you know, we’ve been informed of your intentions and everything is ready for you to succeed.”

 

A smile, which was on Adrien’s face from watching all the happy expressions on Marinette’s animated face, has rapidly disappeared.

 

“What do you mean, Tristan? What is ready and for what?”

 

A man smiled slyly and pulled out a small booklet from his jacket.

 

“Of your plans to propose, Monsignor Agreste. Your secretary Madam Sancoeur called us this morning to inform us and book all the necessary events such as…”

 

“A dinner in an underwater restaurant? A private beach dinner for two at a sunset? Couple’s spa day? Private snorkeling tour… It looks like you have booked us for every day, Tristan” – interrupted furious Adrien, not knowing if he should call his father straight away, refuse all the offers, tell him what he thinks about it and pack Marinette and himself back to Paris on the next flight.

 

“This is not happening! He basically makes the move for me! I won’t allow that…” – ran a thought through Adrien’s mind before he was cut short in his rising anger.

 

“Not really, Monsignor Agreste” – a calm and polite voice stated. “We left out a couple of days for you to decide for yourself on what you want to do. Our planning team recognizes that it is you who have to enjoy your stay so you should have a chance to make your own choices as well. However, the services your secretary requested are all already paid for so we hope that you will enjoy them and we’ll do our best to ensure that.”

 

“What are you talking about?” – rang an excited voice from the other side of the room. Adrien looked over at Marinette and seeing her happy face stopped him a second short of refusing all the services his father ordered. She looked just so happy and delighted… Yes, he didn’t want to be bossed around and led by a hand as a helpless child but he wished so bad his soon to be fiancée to enjoy her rare vacation to it’s fullest... even if he has to swallow his pride and self-respect for that.

 

“We are discussing our schedule, Marinette. Look here and help me choose what we want to do and when.”

 

Marinette’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm when she saw the choices that were already made and what other possibilities they could still have. That smile and that light in her eyes were definitely worth it, thought Adrien. He was happy when Marinette was. She was his happiness.

___________________________________________

 

The week flew by in a flash and it already was their last day at the resort. The couple didn’t waste a single day in a paradise, enjoying all the great offers and services that were available to them. They swam and dived. They had a couple of fancy dinners on a beach and at the finest restaurants available. They relaxed at the spa and went on a couple of sightseeing tours. They loved every minute of this vacation and by the end of the week both were exhausted. That’s why this evening was dedicated to a simple stroll on a beach at a sunset. A simple walk to say goodbye to the most blissful place they’ve visited together.

 

After walking for quite some time, Adrien finally gave up on finding one of those gazebos standing in the water, in which they could relax and cuddle together. He stopped, plopped down in a sand and whined playfully:

 

“I am tired, Mari. Let’s sit here for a minute and watch this mew-velous sunset.”

 

He caught his girlfriend’s hand and pulled her down into his lap. Marinette giggled and encircled her hands around the broad shoulders of her favorite man.

 

“Tired already, Chaton? And you call yourself a superhero? A mighty guardian of Paris?” – she mocked Adrien with a wide grin. “I think, you are nothing but a little, grumpy kitty, mon minou”

 

Adrien smiled and squeezed her harder.

 

“I am everything you want and say, my Lady. For you I’ll be always a little, grumpy kitten, only because you love me this way, don’t you?”

 

The girl giggled and leaned in for a slow, lazy kiss.

 

“I do.” – she whispered when they parted reluctantly.

 

Marinette turned around to face a setting sun and cuddled cozily into Adrien’s strong embrace. This week was amazing. She had a lot of good, old-fashioned fun with the man she loved dearly, which was, to be honest, very much needed after all of those stressful last months. She relaxed and unwound and she also had time to think and reflect on her own feelings and desires, time to put her wrecked emotions in order.

 

It’s true that with every evening and every activity they had Marinette expected Adrien to propose. A romantic dinner – a sure way to propose, but he didn’t. A sightseeing trip to mesmerizing places was sure to inspire him, but the boy didn’t do it again. Snorkeling proposal was an odd but still a valid option. Too bad it never happened. She even suspected a couple of quiet evenings that they spent in their villa, either in Jacuzzi or on a deck. Nope, nothing happened. Spa proposal wasn’t even entertained at all and today was their last day. Mari woke up with a bad mood from all of these disappointed expectations but when she saw his peacefully sleeping, smiling face right next to her something clicked.

 

“I am so focused on something that I want to have that I am not really enjoying something that I do have.” Her heart tightened from a realization as a knot started to form in her throat. She brushed a few stray hairs from his eyes and petted his cheek gently. “Maybe I still don’t know why you don’t want to marry me, Adrien, but I know that I love you and we are still together so I might just enjoy it for now… and if you will dump me in a future at least I’ll have this time we share now.”

 

She leaned closer and slowly kissed her sleeping boyfriend, closing her eyes to stop the moisture from escaping. She shouldn’t cry on her vacation. She should give up her silly dream of becoming Mrs. Agreste. If she loves him, she should give it up and let him be happy the way he wants.

 

“I’ve decided which job offer I’ll take” – she whispered quietly as sun was starting to touch the ocean. “Do you want to know?”

 

Adrien kissed the top of her head and hummed.

 

“I want to work for your father, if that’s alright with you, Adrien” – she breathed out almost scared. Marinette knew all about their strained relationship but she also didn’t want to give up on her childhood dream of working with Gabriel. Right now she had an opportunity to do so and at least one of her dreams could become a reality. She sat still, almost frozen, and didn’t turned around to look at him but just waited for an answer that took Adrien longer than she expected. Finally, he said quietly but firm.

 

“If that is what you want and it will make you happy, I’ll always support you, Marinette.”

 

“Thank you…” she started to respond but was suddenly interrupted by a loud feminine voice from somewhere to the left behind them.

 

“Adrien? Adrien Agreste?”

 

Both of them turned around sharply to see the source of distraction just to find two young, gorgeous women standing on a beach nearby. One of them was a blond with crystal blue eyes and rose lips. The other was a brunette with green eyes and dark red pout. Both had a nice tanned skin and slick forms. Both were fashionably dressed and smelled of an expensive aroma. Both looked like they knew Adrien very well. Marinette was curious. Adrien grinned.

 

“It is you! Oh, Adrien, long time no see! That’s not a way to treat your fiancée! Come here and give me a kiss, darling.”

 

Marinette stiffened but Adrien only laughed.

 

“Sicily! Melody! Long time indeed” – he started to rise up bringing Marinette to a standing position as well. “How are you, my chères?”

 

He walked over to the girls and placed a kiss on each of their cheeks completely forgetting Marinette behind his back for a minute in excitement.

 

“Oh, we’ve been fabulous! Amazing! Italy is gorgeous and so are you, my dear Adrien. Not married yet I see” – she took his hand and inspected his fingers. “How fortunate. So you are still keeping your promise to me? How nice! Well, I am here now and luckily to you still single, so you might just as well to propose.”

 

All of them except Marinette, who was still a bit confused and quite forgotten, laughed until Adrien turned back and pulled Mari into their group.

 

“Ladies, this is Marinette, my girlfriend, my other, better half, I’d say, so unfortunately, I am taken from the market, Sicily.”

 

The blond frowned and gave Mari a critical look. She scanned the girl from top to bottom and pouted her little mouth.

 

“How cruel, Adrien. I meet you after so many years and you flaunt a gorgeous girlfriend in my face.”

 

The other girl and Adrien giggled but the blond moved closer to Marinette leaning too close into her personal space for comfort.

 

“Now, let’s see. Hello, there, gorgeous girlfriend of Adrien’s. My name is Sicily and as Adrien’s fiancée I have to approve all of his girlfriends. So do, please, tell me about yourself a little.”

 

“Sicily, stop this. Don’t embarrass me.” – interrupted Adrien before Marinette could reply.

 

The blond pouted again and smirked.

 

“What? Afraid I’ll find out that she is a crowned princess of some remote country, shamefully rich, heavenly gorgeous, unworldly kind and will steal her from you?”

 

“Oh!” – laughed Adrien. “How did you know all that about her? Did you sent in your spies in advance? Be warned though, I won’t let you have her that easily.”

 

The group laughed once more extracting even a small giggle from the very embarrassed Ladybug in her civilian self.

 

“But seriously,” – continued grinning Adrien. “Marinette is just an incredibly talented and amazing designer I happen to love very much, so back off! She is mine!”

 

“Hm,” smiled Sicily friendly. “And I take it uncle Gabriel approves?

 

“Why wouldn’t he?” the model sounded offended. “As you said, she is gorgeous.”

 

“Then I am very happy for you, Adrien” - said gently the girl and turned to face Marinette. “I am Sicily and this is my sister Melody. Our father and uncle Gabriel were partners for a really long time when we were kids, so we were forced to play all our childhoods with this awful Adrien. Then we moved to Italy some time ago and lost all the contact with him. So it is refreshing to see him again and it nice to meet you, Marinette.” 

 

“Nice to meet you too, guys” smiled Marinette. “I’m so glad to find out that Adrien actually had other friends apart from Chloe.”

 

“Ugh!” huffed sisters simultaneously to much of Marinette dismay. “Don’t remind us. This was the best part of moving away – no Chloe Bourgeois! Please, spare us memories. Now before we do anything else – how do you look at joining us and some of our friends for a party? It’s in a full swing right now at our place. We just went for a walk to get away a little from all the noise.”

 

Adrien and Marinette exchanged looks and after a minute’s hesitation agreed. The walk was brief and very soon the group already could hear a loud music and see bright lights of the mentioned party. There weren’t a lot of people but all of them were young and gorgeous. As the sisters explained later, their position in society forced them to have good looking entourage all the time, even for a remotely located vacation. Some of the people Adrien knew, some were new even to him but most of them knew him. For Marinette, however, it is was a completely new territory so when Adrien got swept into the crowd by someone who wanted to introduce him to this friend of his he absolutely had to meet, she was left awkwardly standing alone.

 

“Hi there, gorgeous” sounded from behind a pleasant male voice. “I haven’t seen such a beauty in a long time. My name is Claude. Who are you?”

 

She turned around to see a dark haired young man smiling brightly at her, offering her a drink.

 

“I’m Marinette” – the girl responded shyly accepting a refreshing treat.

 

“That’s a nice name, Marinette. You are new here, right? How do you know Sicily and Melody?”

 

“I don’t really know them,” she admitted. “They are my boyfriend’s childhood friend’s so when we met on a beach the girls invited us here.”

 

“Oh, you have a boyfriend?” Claude pouted. “That’s unfortunate and a disappointment. I was just about to ask you for a phone number.”

 

Marinette giggled. She knew he was just flirting for fun but it actually felt good to feel that kind of attention again. Not that Adrien didn’t flirt with her all the time, but it was just nice to hear that from a completely different guy, not someone she knew or met on a regular basis. A small comment but what a confidence booster! Quietly smirking to herself she decided that, probably, there wouldn’t be any harm in a little game once in a while.

 

“Well, I mean he’s just a boyfriend…” she smiled slyly at the boy who smiled back just as shamelessly. “It all depends if you will offer me something better.”

 

Claude grinned and fell on one knee taking Marinette’s hand in his immediately.

 

“Will you marry me, oh, beautiful stranger Marinette, whom I just met but fell in love so hopelessly and without coming back at the first sight?”

 

Marinette giggled and was about to respond as she felt someone to snatch her hand from Claude’s and reply coldly instead of her.

 

“No, she won’t. Find yourself some other toy, Claude” - hissed Adrien and pulled Marinette to himself. “Let’s go, Mari. We have a flight to catch tomorrow. I think, it’s time for us to leave.”

 

 “Oh, come on, Adrien. I was just joking around. Relax and have some fun, man” – whimpered the other man just as Adrien was about to drag Marinette away. The blond turned around and with an unusually irritated voice replied:

 

“I understood the joke, Claude. But it’s late; we are tired and have a flight tomorrow, so we’d better go pack and rest, not spend our time with jokesters like you. Give my best wishes to Sicily and Melody. Let’s go, Mari.”

 

He still held her hand in his as they left in silence but when they were about five minutes away from their villa Marinette couldn’t contain her irritation anymore. She stopped and caused Adrien to halt his steps as well, snapping her hand back to herself.

 

“Adrien. What was that all about?”

 

“Nothing” – he replied tiredly. “I just a really tired. That’s all.”

 

“Oh, really?” – she didn’t believe a single word. “You are a picture of politeness even when you are about to be attacked by an akuma. You are spilling out compliments when people are just short of assaulting you. Why couldn’t you be more tolerant of Claude? He was just fooling around, you know that.”

 

“Let’s just say I don’t like him.”

 

They fell silent. Adrien sighed – he did indeed didn’t like Claude much but that was not why he was on a border of being rude today. The minute he stepped into that party he was swept away to chat with a bunch of different people he barely knew. Adrien was accustomed to that, it didn’t bother him at all. What did however annoyed him was that six out of eight men he chatted with asked him to introduce them to his gorgeous companion, four of them asked her number and two didn’t back off even after he told them she was his girlfriend. Some disrespectful and explicit remarks from quite a few conversations about a hot new girl in red dress that he overheard from a couple of horny teenagers bothered him. Claude on his knee asking Marinette to marry him definitely bothered him but he would never admit it to his girlfriend. He promised her to not be jealous.

 

“Come on, Adrien. She is just your girlfriend, right? It’s not like you are married or anything. People break up all the time and there are only so many good choices out there. Don’t be a scrooge. Share.” – rung through the blond’s head last man’s cruel words. Adrien shook his head and pulled Marinette into his arms. He leaned down and pressed his forehead into hers.

 

“You know that I love you, Mari? Love you very much.”

 

She smiled and lightly touched his cheek.

 

“I do know, kitty. I love you too.”

 

“I… I just don’t want to lose you” – he breathed out. “I can’t even stand a thought.” He stopped for a minute, breathed in and closed his eyes. “I…I wanted to ask you something, Mari.”

 

The girl tensed a little in his arms and Adrien inhaled nervously. The moment maybe wasn’t perfect as he would like it to be but they were in a beautiful location on a gorgeous white sand beach under a bright moon. Perfect enough. And maybe it went against all of his convictions not to propose the way his father wanted but he didn’t care right now. He needed Marinette to himself. Legally, so no other man would dare to ask him for her number or joke-propose to her. He knew a ring on her finger wasn’t some kind of a magic spell to repel all of other contenders but decent ones wouldn’t go after a married woman. All those morons, who still would, Marinette was smart enough to kick away herself. She was his Lady, his Princess, _his_ Marinette. He will propose now and give her a ring the minute they return to their room.

 

Adrien inhaled nervously and tighten his grip on her petite frame.

 

Marinette was barely breathing in anticipation. “Adrien? What’s wrong?”

 

“Will you… will you” – he stuttered but froze suddenly remembering that the ring wasn’t in their room. It was back in Paris locked away in a very secure safe in his bank. Adrien could clearly remember how he left it there on a purpose. He wanted so bad not to obey his father this time that he left the ring at home to stop himself in case he would want to propose here. Well, he succeeded.

 

Adrien closed his eyes, sighted heavily and inhaled again, a note of defeat sounding through:

 

“Will you… allow me to take you to a nice restaurant to celebrate your new job once we’ll come back to Paris even though it isn’t a “Spoil Mari day”?”

 

Marinette’s eyes closed disappointedly at the sound of his voice as her ears refused to comprehend the meaning of the words she wasn’t expecting. She dared to hope again… She was almost sure that was it… How naïve, how childish of her... Disappointed once again she stood silently for a few seconds trying to stop appearance of resentful tears in her eyes.

 

“Sure. Why not?” – she finally whispered.

 

Adrien pressed her to his chest and bit his lip harshly, feeling like a sore loser, good for nothing but a bitter failure.

 

“If you don’t want a restaurant, we could go on a shopping spree or to the spa? Anything you want, Mari”- he almost chocked on his words. “I’ll do anything you want.”

 

She didn’t want anything. Marinette was in a position to buy herself everything she wished for right now and be anywhere her soul desired. She had it all. Well, almost all. And she’ll give it up everything in a blink of an eye for that one dream she still had, that one wish that stubbornly refused to come true. Her heart wished to have him. All to herself. How selfish of her, isn’t right? How stupid of her to hope that he could want the same thing, want her for himself forever. How naïve to wish that she was worthy of him after all. She clearly wasn’t. Marinette chose the first thing she remembered without much thought.

 

“Restaurant sounds fine. Let’s do that.”

 

They stood silent for a couple of more minutes in each other arms before finally finishing their walk to the villa. That evening they didn’t talk much. Both were just too upset and frustrated. Both wanted to just go to sleep and forget, hoping that tomorrow will be better.

___________________________________________

 

“Your father says that he hopes your mission was successful and that he is expecting you and Ms. Dupain-Cheng for a dinner today at six.” – was the first message he received once they landed in Paris. The flight was exhausting and a bitter aftertaste of another failed attempt at proposing still lingered in the air. Irritated once again Adrien shoveled his phone away and turned to Mari, who was silently looking out the window of an airplane.

 

“Father invited us for a dinner today. Do you want to go?” he asked quietly.

 

Marinette turned around and smiled sadly at him, not wanting her own stupid ideas get in a way of their small, but still existing happiness.

 

“I think we should. That would be a perfect opportunity to tell him that I want to accept his proposal…” they both flinched a little at an irony of the word used. “Job proposal, as in offer to work, I mean…” – she trailed off shyly, a light blush covering her adorable face.

 

Adrien smiled for the first time since that evening and rested his head on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck a little.

 

“Of course, Princess.”

 

She was still just as beautiful and gorgeous, too kind and too forgiving for him. Silently watching her sweet, dear face, Adrien swore at that moment that he would make her happy. She was too amazing and too pure for someone else. He wanted to have her forever. All to himself. It, maybe, was too selfish but he’ll live through it. He’ll think of something else and do his best to secure her heart. Today they’ll go to father’s and will make her dream of working for Gabriel come true. Tomorrow he’ll devote everything he has to successfully propose!

 

Adrien closed his eyes and started to form up a new plan in his head. He still wanted it to be perfect and he still wanted it to be a surprise but he was sick and tired of failure. He’ll need help. Just a little, to make sure everything is going to go smooth. The blond reached for his phone and typed a short message to Nino before sitting up right and kissing his girlfriend’s cheek with a smile.

 

“I love you.”

_____________________________________

 

“I see that you failed to fulfill your promise, Adrien” – Gabriel stated coldly as soon as Marinette was out the room for a bathroom break after they’ve arrived.

 

Adrien wasn’t impressed or surprised to be honest. He frowned.

 

“I never promised you anything, father. Quite contrary, I told you that I wouldn’t do it the way you want it to happen. I think, I have a right to decide how things like these will go in my life, so, please, go ahead and deduct the cost of that trip from my next paycheque. I don’t care.”

 

“Very well, Adrien.”

 

A sound of an opening door interrupted their small and very displeasing discussion. Marinette was back in the room and three of them proceeded to sit for a dinner that to Adrien’s surprise went perfectly well. His father was a picture of politeness and kindness, something he didn’t see often. He even smiled once at one of his jokes. The boy suspected that Gabriel was finally coming under Mari’s spell as well. She did have this amazing ability to open up people and lift their spirits and today she was especially cheerful because today was a starting point of one of her childhood dreams and Marinette was eager for a journey.

 

Just as tea was served Marinette finally decided to plunge.

 

“Mr. Agreste. I was wondering if that would be appropriate for me to accept your job offer rather than someone else’s taking in consideration my relationship with Adrien? I wouldn’t want anyone to assume that I obtained the position, you were so kind to offer me, only due to this special circumstance.”

 

Gabriel raised a brow and even let a small, satisfying smile momentary grace his usually strict face.

 

“Quite contrary, Marinette. I’d argue that it would rather be considered highly inappropriate if you would choose to work for someone else. In that case there would be a high probability of “conflict of interest” situations in the future and you wouldn’t want that, I assume?”

 

Marinette shifted uncomfortably.

 

“No, I don’t, sir. I understand that but I also don’t want people to think that I didn’t deserve this work. I’ve dreamt of it since I can remember myself and worked really hard to achieve everything I have right now.”

 

The man nodded.

 

“On that I can assure you, Marinette. I would’ve never offer you anything if you didn’t deserve it, no matter what your relationship to my son is, and everyone knows that. To be honest, even if you were my wife I would’ve looked only at your talent and work ethnic, not the color of your eyes or loveliness of your face.”

 

Adrien flinched and glared at his completely oblivious to anything he said father while Marinette turned crimson. Awkward silence filled the room until nervous Marinette decided that to say at least something would be better than to allow Adrien to continue to glare down his own father.

 

“Ah, so you won’t fire me if we are ever to break up?” – she spitted out and froze cold. That was not what she wanted to say.

 

Adrien froze. His eyes widened in shock as his stare relocated to a blushing Marinette who was nervously fiddling with her napkin, wondering if she should just go jump off the cliff or beg some talented scientist to invent a time machine and sell it to her so she can go back and shut herself up. Gabriel lifted his no less surprised eyes and looked straight at the girl.

 

“As I said before, your talent is everything that matters to me concerning my employees. If something like this does happen in a future and you two will part ways you can be assured that this won’t affect your job, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. As long as your performance doesn’t suffer, that is.”

 

“Marinette” she heard a whisper to her right. “Shouldn’t we get ready to leave now? It’s getting late.”

 

“Already?” – Gabriel raised an eyebrow and after getting a nod from both of young adults in front of him continued. “Very well. I’ll get a car ready for you promptly.”

 

The ride home was mostly silent. Marinette wanted to die just so she doesn’t have to explain herself to Adrien, who was so deep in his thoughts that he simply ignored a message that his father sent him a few minutes after they left.

 

“Since your trip wasn’t a complete failure and my goal was reached nevertheless, I’ll spare you the cost of the vacation but you should reevaluate your relationship with Mrs. Dupain-Cheng from what I’ve heard today.”

 

That he did indeed needed to do. He loved her, he didn’t want to lose her, and he was shocked that she might have contemplated on their break up. He needed to make sure that he wasn’t imagining her love, that she did loved him and not the access to a fashion world he was giving her. What an absurd idea! And he’d never entertained it before, not before Mari said that… thing. He looked over at her. She was silent, sad, nervous and looked tired. Her eyes looked down into nothingness. His heart tightened. One phrase – too many out coming questions.

 

Adrien waited until they were alone in their apartment. He came closer to the girl he loved more than his own life and asked quietly:

 

“Mari, have you been thinking about breaking up with me?”

 

Marinette tried really hard not to hide her eyes so he won’t suspect that she did in fact thought about it lately… and not once or twice but not because she didn’t love him. No, she loved this stupid, alley cat with every fiber of her being and wished that she’d never have to leave his side. But she did thought of breaking up with him for him, for his sake, to let him find someone else more suitable, someone he’ll love more, someone he’ll want to commit to and be happy. But that Marinette didn’t want him to know, not yet anyway. Not until she’ll get her emotions under control and will be crystal clear in her decisions.

 

“Why gave that idea, Adrien?”

 

His eyes were glued to her face carefully analyzing every feature he loved so much, searching for something to allow him to understand her true feelings.

 

“Your comment to my father about…”

 

“It was just a joke, Adrien. Forget it” – she interrupted. “ The silence was just too awkward and I didn’t think before I spoke. I’m sorry, if I gave you the wrong idea.”

 

She couldn’t take it anymore. Her face fell down the second she turned away. Adrien came closer and standing right behind her breathed out.

 

“But still, Mari. Do you think we’ll break up one day? Do you really think that this is the path we are heading to?”

 

She was silent for a second, fighting her rising feelings inside. But just a moment later her voice was quite yet confident with a sudden surge of determination.

 

“Do you want me to answer honestly or tell you what you want to hear?”

 

Adrien swallowed a pitiful feeling sinking into his stomach and lowered his head into a crook of her neck before responding in a barely audible voice.

 

“The truth, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for not updating sooner but the summer is here which means more work, less time to write. Hope you enjoyed it :)


	5. Do we really belong together?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day, another try... This option sounds ideal and very failure-proof, isn't it?

He wished really bad he’d never asked her that question.

“The truth, please” – three words that changed his world in a space of a few minutes.

Adrien continued to stand right behind Marinette waiting for an answer for a few moments but she didn’t move or talked. It seemed that she was frozen in space and time, paralyzed with an agonizing battle inside her head – do I tell him the truth or do I sugar coat as always? A few minutes passed and he carefully touched Mari’s shoulder with a shaking hand.

“Marinette?”

Then came the unexpected, something that Adrien wasn’t prepared for, something he didn’t want to witness. The girl of his dreams, the love of his life suddenly turned around and fell into his arms exploding with tears. Her desperate sobs split the silence and all he could do was to hold her close, pulling her fragile, trembling frame tightly to his chest. Adrien’s heart dropped – Marinette’s reaction gave him the answer he dreaded so much… and raised so many questions.

“I’m sorry, Adrien, I am so sorry” – the girl whispered between her rolling tear, clinging to his chest tighter and tighter.

“Why?” – he whispered back. She didn’t answer right away.

They slowly dropped to the floor where Adrien continued to hold weeping Marinette for quite some time before she was able to barely mutter out something that could be considered an explanation.

“I love you, Adrien… love you so much… but recently I started to feel that you deserve so much more than me… someone more suitable…”

“Marinette, stop it – the man interrupted her sharply with a hurt, sad, almost disappointed but still a loving voice. Adrien’s lips softly touched the top of her hair before he continued. “We talked about it so many times and you know perfectly that you are the one I want, princess. I love you just the way you are, Mari. So, please, stop it with this nonsense. Don’t do this to me, to you… to us.”

Adrien took ahold of Mari’s chin and lifted her face to look at him. Her eyes were wet, his also showed signs of moisture but he smiled at her. 

“If anyone here doesn’t deserve anybody, that would be me, silly. I don’t deserve you my precious Lady, and it would be a crime to think otherwise.”

Mari’s heart tightened as she averted her sight and leaned back into his chest.

“I know you love me, Adrien, I do and I’ve never doubted it” - the girl replied, trying to unsuccessfully wipe away her tears. “I don’t know how to explain it to you. I… I… It started a few months ago and the more I think about it the more I am convinced that it will be better for both of us. You are an incredible person, Adrien. You deserve someone better than me. Someone you’ll want to spend your life together, to be with that someone in sickness and in health, in all circumstances…”

“And what makes you think I don’t want that with you, Mari?”

Now his voice sounded angry, but when Marinette lifted her tear-strained face, she was met with a look of a sincere feeling in his eyes, one of love not hate. Adrien’s grip around her tightened as he refused to let that one person he loved more than anything to get away that easily. Just for a second Adrien contemplated on telling her the truth about his failed attempts in proposing but didn’t find courage to do so. He also didn’t want to spoil the surprise he was already preparing for again. He does love her. Loves her more than anything. He will propose. Will give her a proposal she deserves. He will prove to her that she is the one he wants to spend his life with. Just not now, not yet. He wants that moment to be special and memorable and that was not it for him.

Adrien closed his eyes and lowered his head. A pained sigh escaped his lips as he pleaded:

“Mari, please, believe me when I say I want to spend my life with you because I really do want it to be you for the rest of my life. I love you more than I can express and, you have to agree, that I am the one who should know what makes me happy. Can you trust me to know what is better for me?”

The girl sighed too exhausted to protest and responded in a low, whispering voice.

“Can you promise me that, if you meet someone better than me, you’ll tell me right away? Can you promise me that if you will fall in love with someone else you’ll let me go? Or if you will start feeling that we don’t belong together you won’t keep it a secret? I don’t ever want to be a burden to you, Adrien…”

A few minutes passed before Adrien responded. He lifted his head and looked deeply into Mari’s eyes.

“I’ll promise you that if you’ll do the same for me. Can you promise me that too, Mari?” 

She silently nodded and the man continued gently stroking her dark hair.

“My little, silly bugaboo. I love you, Marinette” – he breathed out, already leaning forward. The second his lips touched Marinette’s she relaxed into his kiss and let her fears go. At least for now, because now she was with him, he was hers, he was kissing her and loving her. That was all she wanted for now. The rest can wait.

“I love you… very-very, extremely much, Mari” – Adrien was breathlessly whispering between the passionate touches on her lips and neck. His arms were keeping her close, shyly starting to explore the bare skin underneath her shirt.

“I’ll prove it to you, princess…” – the whispers began to be more and more erratic, barely recognizable sounds escaping his lips as the sadness and tension were rapidly changing into heat and passion. “I’ll show you just how much I love you…”

A pair of thin but strong arms entwined around his neck and a pair of soft, plum lips touched his fervidly when Adrien picked Marinette up in his arms and carried her away inside their apartment.  
______________________________________

The morning for him was lazy and happy. Adrien was awake for quite some time and having his breakfast when his Lady finally made her exit. Today Marinette left the room uncustomary late and was already dressed for work. 

“Good morning, Adrien” – she leaned in and softly kissed his cheek. “My first day at the work of my dreams and I overslept! I don’t even know if I have time for a breakfast. Why you didn’t wake me up?”

He smiled widely and kissed the top of her palm.

“You looked so beautiful and peaceful that I didn’t dare, princess.”

“But I’ll get fired on my first day, Adrien. I’m lucky Plagg got hungry and started shouting about his cheese. Otherwise, I would’ve overslept for sure.”

“Father won’t fire you, Mari” – smirked Adrien. “He wanted to pull me into an extravagant scheme to trick you into working for him. He rarely does that, which means that he’ll never fire you because he really likes your work. So relax and have a breakfast with me, my Lady.” 

Marinette blinked a couple of times. “A scheme? That’s a first I am hearing about. What did you do?”

“Nothing” – he shrugged. “I told him I won’t interfere with your decisions so don’t worry, Mari. Breakfast?” – he repeated his question.

“No, no time and, to be honest, I am not really hungry with all those jitters and nerves on my first day so I’ll pass. See you later, kitty.”

Marinette leaned in to give Adrien a good-bye kiss but he caught her in his arms and pulled closer, grinning slyly.

“That won’t do, princess. I don’t know about you but I am a little hungry… or maybe a lot…”

Mari giggled as Adrien tried his best shot at seductively licking his lips but when he picked her up and laid down on a sofa she started to feverishly fight back.

“Adrien I can’t! I have to run to work and you did have your meal yesterday so back off, you alley cat!”

Her playful banter and fighting only brought out more of Chat in the blond. Adrien seemed to ignore her actions as he started to attack her neck with kisses while trying to restrict her hands from hitting him.

“You are too tasteful and delicious, purr-incess, so I can’t possibly get enough. I am still hungry” – he murmured between the kisses. “Feed mew, please. I’ve been a good kitty…”

“I did not need to see or hear that!” –Nino’s disgusted voice suddenly split the room as two stunned heads shot up in the air.

“Plagg, you told me they were eating!” – Nino continued to shout from a screen of Adrien’s cell phone that was hold by a certain, giggling slyly, black kwami right in front of the sofa, video chat in progress.

“They are eating… each other” – laughed Plagg bringing the phone closer to better showcase two red faces still frozen from the shock. That proved to be a mistake! The second he moved closer Adrien scrambled to his feet and snatched the device away from smirking Plagg.

“I’m dealing with you later, you little devil” – he snapped at kwami before turning to Nino saying that he’ll call back as soon as he would be able to when suddenly…

“Bye, Adrien!” – he heard somewhere behind him from fleeing Marinette. The man sighed and turned back to Nino.

“Guess, I am free now, man. So what do you have for me?”

His friend chuckled and answered, deciding to let the recent incident slip sparing Adrien more embarrassment than necessary.

“So I booked everything for today at six, as you asked me. Now I need to pick up the ring and arrange everything else. That’s why I am calling you, bro, – I can’t take it out of the bank without you. Meet me there in an hour if you can.”

“Sure. See you soon, Nino.” – responded Adrien and hang up. He stood up and went into the bedroom to change his clothes. Plagg was smirking at him on Marinette’s night table.

“Attempt number three, Adrien?”

“Shut up, Plagg” – hissed Adrien. “You are not in a position to mock me since if it wasn’t for you I would’ve succeeded the first time.”

“Sure you would’ve” – murmured Plagg “As if you could go against the fate…”

“What did you say?” – Adrien turned sharply. “What fate?”

“Nothing” – squeaked Plagg and hid in a drawer. 

Adrien contemplated dragging the kwami out but seeing the time decided to deal with it later. Now he needed to get to the bank on time to take his engagement ring out of deposit box and get ready for trying once more. When the blond was almost ready, he noticed that Marinette forgot to take Tikki in her rush to escape him. He smiled to the little, caring kwami.

“Third time lucky, right, Tikki?” – he asked a little red creature, who floated to his face to great him. 

“Sure it is, Adrien. Don’t listen to anyone, everything will be just fine” – she smiled at him planting a light peck to Adrien’s cheek. “Now go, make Marinette and yourself happy.”

“You didn’t have to lie to him, Tikki. You know how those things work, don’t you” – sounded a grumpy voice from a drawer a few minutes after Adrien left an apartment.

“I didn’t lie, Plagg. It will work out… eventually… if he won’t give up.”  
___________________________________________

At five o’clock Adrien stood before a door to his future fiancée’s office. Well, it wasn’t her own office to be honest but she was one of those who used it every day so he considered it to be hers. The man was nervous – his new attempt at making Marinette his wife was about to start and this time it was supposed to be perfect and successful for sure. It has to be successful because this time Adrien did nothing - he asked his best friend for a little bit of help. Nino booked a restaurant for them and arranged for the ring to be brought to his table in a dessert collection he will order after their main course. Adrien will ask the question the moment Mari will notice the ring. And the best part will be that the proposal will still be intimate and personal because they would eat in a separate, private lodge. That also meant that nobody would be able to interrupt or even see them. As a precaution Adrien even took Tikki with him and left Plagg at home. Just in case. In case of an akuma he was sure that Mari would drop him off at home in minutes to transform. But right now he was gathering his courage to knock.

“Adrien?” – a voice behind him brought the man out of his gaze. He turned around and saw surprised Marinette holding a few folders in her hands. “What are you doing here?”

“I… I came to steal you away” – he grinned after tackling his initial stutter. “You promised me a date to celebrate your new job so here I am on your first day of your new job stealing you away for a celebration.”

“But I can’t leave yet, kitty” – the girl giggled. “I’ll be off at six and you knew that. You’ll have to wait a bit.”

“Not if I am the only son of your boss, I don’t, princess” – a wide smirk appeared again on his smug and content face. “Our reservation is at six and father approved your early leave about two hours ago so, please, put those away and let’s run before your manager catches us.”

It took Adrien a few more minutes to finally convince Marinette that she was indeed free to go earlier today but, when Adrien did, he took her to a restaurant she recognized right away.

“Awww, this is the first restaurant you ever took me to, Adrien. How sweet of you to bring me here again for this” – the girl bubbled with excitement.

“Yes, the first restaurant, that we ever went to, to celebrate your first day on your new, first real job, Marinette” – Adrien repeated once again wondering if he was trying too hard to make an emphasis on the job part of the celebration. He didn’t want his Lady to suspect anything other than what he told her and hoped to add “a first successful proposal” to the list today.

In about ten minutes the pair was cozily seated in a nice lodge on a second level of the restaurant. When the server left with their orders Adrien looked over at Marinette and couldn’t take his eyes of her. She glowed, she really blossomed from her teenage years and if he loved her then, now he was losing his mind. The girl smiled at him softly but he didn’t miss a tiny streak of sadness in her eyes.

“What fate was Plagg talking about?” – a thought suddenly hit his mind but he shook it away. “Marinette is my fate and there is nothing that can change it, 5000 year old kwami or not.”

The dinner was delicious. Marinette was eager to share her first day excitement from work, the things she loved and ones she didn’t, new people she’s met and some old acquaintances she didn’t realized worked there. Her colleagues were mostly a nice bunch of people and she hoped to capture their respect and friendship before they would find out about her relationship with Adrien Agreste.

“I really want them to respect me for my work, Adrien. What do you think?” – she asked affectionately.

“I think that you will sweep them off their feet with your talent, princess. But for now, how about we move to a dessert part? I’ve already ordered a sweets platter for us to try a little bit of everything.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. I’d like to try what they have here. Do you mind if I leave you for a minute while the meal is coming?”

Not at all, my Lady. I’ll be here waiting for you.”

Marinette left and Adrien smiled to himself. This was going so great. The place and the mood were right. The setting was in place and if he is lucky he might even have a chance to see if the ring was in it’s place before Marinette steps back into the room. Five minutes passed but strangely his platter wasn’t arriving. The man was getting anxious when a different from a previous server appeared carrying his desserts and apologizing for the wait. Marinette returned in just a few seconds after him. The platter was placed on a table with an elegant dome covering the top of it. 

“You are right on time, my Lady” – greeted Adrien snatching his hand back from the platter failing to peek inside in time. Well, Adrien guessed, he expected too much for Chat Noir to be that lucky.

Marinette took her place and sipped a little of her newly appeared coffee.

“Ah, that’s a good coffee… So what do we have for a dessert?”

“Only the best” - replied Adrien and took the cover off the tray. He watched Mari closely trying to guess the exact moment when she’ll see a small black box in a middle of all those fancy desserts.

“Katie, this is a misunderstanding! It’s not that I don’t want to marry you but…” – a loud voice from a hall suddenly disturbed their quiet space followed by a angry screams of another person, definitely female and definitely upset. 

“Guess someone wasn’t lucky today” – giggled Marinette and looked curiously at her partner.

Adrien turned back to Marinette and shrugged his shoulders.

“Maybe it wasn’t meant to be or maybe someone didn’t try hard enough. Let’s get back to our dessert, Bugaboo.”

Adrien frowned. Those screams did spoil the mood a little and the moment wasn’t as perfect as he hoped for but that was the last thing that bothered him right now. What was odd – Marinette seemed to be unable to see his engagement ring box hidden in a mountain of éclairs and cakes. The blond was on edge, ready for anything, hoping just to finally pop the question and Marinette’s suspicious lack of a reaction wasn’t encouraging.

“I have no idea what to choose, Adrien” – she cooed. “Everything looks just too amazing! Oh! Wait!” She grinned and he held his breath. ‘I think I’ll take this one.”

The girl reached out and took a small, chocolate covered éclair out. Adrien groaned, clenched his teeth and took a look at the tray… the ring wasn’t there.

“Would you excuse me for a minute, Marinette?” – he murmured in an angry shock.

He stood up and without waiting for her response walked out the door. In a minute he already found their server and demanded to know where his ring was. The man’s face paled as he answered with a shaking voice politely: 

“I’m sorry, monsignor Agreste, but I was away for a few minutes just now and asked my associate to deliver the tray. If you could wait just a second, I’ll ask him.”

He soon returned back with another man and Adrien could tell that something was wrong. Both of them looked extremely nervous.

“I’m very sorry, monsignor Agreste, but it looks like there was a misunderstanding. There were a few of the same platters ordered at the same time and your tray got delivered to a different customer by mistake” – murmured the second server.

“I don’t care” – exploded Adrien. “Get me my ring back now!”

The man looked down and apologized once again.

“Unfortunately, the customer in question had an argument with his companion and has already left. We couldn’t reach him right away but the manager is trying everything in our power right now. We are trying to do our best and as soon as we will reach him, we’ll retrieve your ring and return it to you.”

Adrien sighed heavily, trying his best not to turn the place into dust. Who would’ve guessed that leaving Plagg behind would actually turned out for the best? Otherwise, one very angry Chat Noir would’ve cataclysmed the whole place to pieces right now. Adrien clutched his fist and hit the wall on his way out.

“I want my ring back by tomorrow afternoon the latest. Otherwise my lawyers will be contacting you.” – he hissed angrily leaving the room. 

The rest of the evening was a disaster. Adrien tried very hard to compose himself but failed miserably. At last, after numerous inquiries from Marinette he admitted to a horrible headache, a gruesome stomachache from something he just ate and an overall, complete exhaustion due to his busy work schedule. Just as expected, Marinette didn’t allow them to stay there another second. The girl called the driver and whisked her “sick” boyfriend home for some rest. The ring was returned the next morning, delivered by a manager personally with a written apology from a restaurant.   
_____________________________________

“Man, that’s unbelievable! It’s like a fate or the universe is against you proposing to Marinette or something!” – groaned Nino after Adrien finished the story of yet another failed attempt at their weekly café bro-date. 

“Like a fate?” – repeated Adrien absentmindedly suddenly remembering a small comment Plagg let slip a few days ago.

“Do you think we aren’t meant to be together?” – he asked.

“Don’t ask me, bro. In my opinion, you two were made for each other. Why this is keep happening to you is beyond me. Maybe it’s your Chat Noir’s bad luck, huh?”

“Maybe you are right” – murmured under his nose Adrien completely ignoring what his friend said. “Maybe it’s my bad luck… but what… what if we aren’t meant to be together after all? Maybe that’s why Mari is also having doubts…”

“Hey, hey, hey!” – interrupted DJ. “You can’t give up only after a few failed tries, man! What about your declarations of undying love? Eternal commitment? Two halves of one whole? Huh? Where is it now when things got a little hard?” 

“You don’t understand Nino.” – hissed Adrien back. “Plagg said something about me going against the fate. That little shit won’t say anything more but looking at how everything is going I wonder if he knows something I don’t. Maybe we really don’t belong together” – his heart clenched. “Maybe I should give up…”

Nino suddenly leaned over the table and took his distressed friend by the shoulders.

“Adrien! Snap out of it, man!” – he almost shouted shaking the blond.

“Don’t you remember that there were multiple previous Chat Noirs and Ladybugs who were together and were perfectly fine? It’s not like they have a count – 3 pairs happy, one not. Ask Tikki if Plagg won’t speak.”

After a few tense minutes of silence Adrien finally responded:

“I’ll try one more time Nino and if it still doesn’t work, I’ll give up. Just one more time…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you are enjoying this so far. Just wanted to say that there will be a twist or two in the next few chapters so stick around... I've been throwing hints through out this and previous chapters so some of you might guessed it already. :D

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it and are ready for a fresh round of angst and misunderstandings :)


End file.
